


Leap of Time

by ThisGorlie



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Byeler - Freeform, F/M, Gay Will Byers, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Jealous Will, Lumax, M/M, Mike's family has to board in with Will's family when Mike moves back so things get interesting, Richie Tozier and Mike Wheeler Are Cousins, Will Byers Needs a Hug, byler, so much angst and fluff :)), so much repressed feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-03-20 20:57:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13725837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisGorlie/pseuds/ThisGorlie
Summary: When Will and Mike first meet in Kindergarten, they become inseparable best friends. All of that changes when Mike has to move all the way across the country, which devastates Will. Eight years later, Mike and his family move back to Hawkins. Will goes into a state of shock and immediately develops a whirlwind of feelings for Mike.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt of a Byeler story I thought about on Tumblr and I just had to make a FIC out of it, so here it is. 
> 
> (I know that Will and Mike technically meet on their first day of kindergarten, but I wanted to make it two months in just to describe how lonely will was during the last couple of months) 
> 
> I'm posting the first two chapters at once cause both chapters consist of Will's and Mike's friendship at their childhood. From then on there's a huge time skip onto their senior year of HS.
> 
> P.S: I kinda refurbished this chapter, since I wasn't too happy about how it was originally when I first wrote this story. I will do this with chapter 2 later!
> 
> I hope you enjoy yet another byeler fic from me (I love this pairing I stg):

He aimlessly dragged his foot against the ground while clutching the handles of a swing. His eyes were glued onto the ground, not a focus on his surroundings. He initially swung back and forth at a steady speed, but his attention diverted back to the daily torrent of bullying he would receive at the hands of his classmates – so, he just stopped swinging. All he could think about was the ruthless name calling he endured and the loneliness he felt.

It was two months into kindergarten and nothing had changed for Will Byers. Every day during recess, he would go to the swing set and swing alone. He was usually he only one there, save for a couple of other kids who would use the swing set occasionally. The loneliness the timid boy felt almost killed him inside on the worst of days. It got so bad he’d often come home crying to his mom. He had no friends, no one to talk to.

But all of that changed when another kid approached him.

“Hey!”

Will tilted his head up, seeing a boy his age standing in front of him. Will wanted to believe that this was yet another kid who would tease and make fun of him, but his voice wasn’t the slightest bit condescending or mocking. Instead it sounded friendly; he looked friendly. He had dark, wavy hair and very fair skin. Freckles lined his upper cheeks and nose bridge. The boy had an amicable smile which added to his approachable demeanor.

It wasn’t something Will was used to, but he went ahead and said something back.

“Hi?” Will said, in a quieter voice, his “Hi” accidentally coming across as a question.

There was a short silence between the two, the other kid seemingly trying to conjure up his next words. Will’s heartbeat kicked up a notch, hoping that the friendly attitude wasn’t a façade that the boy put up. He had hoped this wasn’t some sort of inside joke that other classmates often planned behind his back. 

“Is this swing taken?” He asked, pointing to the empty one beside Will.

Will blinked before shaking his head. That was when the boy took a seat. Will clutched the metal bars of his swing when he could feel the other’s stare on him. Much to his own chagrin, his shy nature often got the best of him.

“Are you usually by yourself?” The boy asked.

Will nodded.

“Oh…” The other said, an upset tone to his voice, “Doesn’t that get a bit boring sometimes? I mean, there’s stuff to do alone at recess, but it’s really fun when you have other people to play with. We make up all sorts of games and it all goes by so fast because of that. I wish recess could be like five hours long.”

“I don’t have anyone to play with,” Will shrugged, trying his hardest to muster up a nonchalant façade. Instead, he looked visibly uncomfortable even saying that.

“We can play together, whatever you want,” The other quickly said, a grin on his face, “…If you have any ideas. If you don’t, I can come up with anything. I’m really great at hide-n-seek. The other day, I came up with my own version of it and all the other kids loved it. I’m pretty sure you would too! Just don’t let any of the teachers catch us, someone got into huge trouble for hiding in the back of Mr. Connor’s truck. I felt bad cause his mom yelled at him so loud when she came to pick him up.”

Will felt the side of his lips tug into a smile. This boy could go on and on forever. He hadn’t met anyone as talkative as him before.

“I’ll play hide-n-seek with you then,” Will spoke up.

“I think you’d be great at it, since you’re small for your age,” He said, feet slightly dangling from the swing.

“But what if the other kids tease me?”

“I won’t let them,” He replied, looking at Will, “I don’t let people bother my friends–”

Will raised his eyebrows at the boy’s abrupt stop. Will was quick to assume he did something wrong, but his self-doubting thoughts were quickly whisked away when the boy said what he was about to say.

“Do you want to be my friend?”

Will’s breath almost stopped.

He had never been asked that question, especially in such a bold manner by someone he hadn’t met before. To have someone walk up to him and say those six words was uncharted and unfamiliar territory for the boy, but that was something he wanted to hear for such a long time. He wasn’t able to utter a single word out of shock. Instead, he nodded his head, a small smile forming on his face.

“Okay,” Will finally said, his voice soft.

The boy smiled back from Will’s naturally contagious one.

“What’s your name?” The boy asked.

“Will,” He replied, his uneasiness quickly subsiding. He couldn’t describe it in words, but there was something so welcoming and comforting about the other boy’s presence.

“I’m Michael, but everyone calls me Mike.”

“…Mike,” Will repeated to himself, smiling again.

From then on, Will and Mike immediately became best friends. Although Mike was more outspoken compared to the quieter Will, they had a lot in common. Both of them endured bullying at the hands of their classmates, and they both had an awkwardness to them – at least compared to the other five year olds in their class – in which they could relate to each other with. Mike was able to bring out a side of Will that the shy boy was unaware he had. The normally reserved Will could open up and talk to Mike about anything on moments notice, for hours on end – whether it be at school, at each other’s houses, or on the phone.

“Will, how long have you been using the phone?”

Will could hear his older brother’s voice come from the kitchen. He covered the speaker end of the device.

“…30 minutes?”

“No way, I could have sworn you answered it at 5:00!” His brother, Jonathan, said, “It’s 7:25 right now.”

2 hours and 25 minutes – that’s how long Will had been talking to Mike this time. Jonathan had pestered Will before, telling his younger brother he needed to make an important call at the time; he clearly didn’t appreciate Will hogging the phone for so long. Will, on the other hand, was too immersed in his phone call to cave into Jonathan’s demands and hang up. Their conversation shifted from topics like the harsh disciplining of the teachers at their school to the brand new Atari Video Computer System was too interesting to put off for another time.

“Hold on, I’ll be done soon!” Will said.

“You said that an hour ago.”

Will sighed.

“Can’t I just bike to Mike’s house?”

“You know Mom won’t allow you to do that,” Jonathan said. He was right; the protective Joyce would never allow a five year old bike that much of a distance, especially when it was dark.

“But Mike’s parents don’t care when he does it.”

“Then why don’t you ask Mike to come here?”

“Because his mom and dad won’t let him, he’s grounded for a whole week. He’s not even allowed to call me right now.”

Will looked in the direction of the kitchen, waiting for Jonathan to say something.

“…Fine,” The eldest said, “I’ll give you 30 minutes. But I really need to use it by then!”

A large grin suddenly formed on Will’s face. A burst of happiness surged through the boy.

“Okay! Thanks, Jonathan!”

“Yeah, yeah – whatever, Will.”

 

\------

 

**_One year later…_ **

****

From the kitchen, Will could hear a few knocks come from the front door of his house.

“He’s here!” The six year old boy almost screeched.

Before Joyce could answer it, Will jumped up from his seat and bounded towards the front door. He almost tripped from the high speed he was running at, earning a shake of the head from Joyce. Will quickly reached up and pulled open the door. His face lit up when he saw Mrs. Wheeler and Mike himself, the two standing side by side. His warm brown eyes brightened up when he saw the excitement on Will’s face.

“Hey, Will!” Mike grinned.

“Mike!” Will squeaked, immediately bringing Mike into a hug, the taller boy eagerly returned it.

It was November and Mike had gone out of the state to visit his cousin during Thanksgiving break. It was the longest time they were separate since they met each other. It felt like the longest week for Will...and Mike, them not being able to talk to each other in person for so long almost made it unbearable. He was overjoyed the other day once he was told Mike and his family would be returning.

“You have to tell me everything that happened!” Will said, pulling Mike in the direction of the kitchen.

“Nothing much, it was pretty boring,” Mike shrugged, his smile returning, “I’m glad I’m back. I thought I was gonna die over there.”

“What about Richie?”

“He was annoying as usual, he never shuts up!”

Mike always expressed his frustration about his lookalike cousin.

“Hey, sometimes you never shut up either!” Will retorted.

“Sometimes!” Mike emphasized, “Richie goes on and on and on. He talked non-stop for an hour while everyone else was mostly quiet when we were driving to the theater. He also kept talking to me when I was trying to focus on the movie, the people sitting behind us weren’t happy at all…”

“That sucks, he seems interesting though,” Will said, trying to focus on the positive. He had never met Richie in person before but he was itching to because of all the funny stories Mike would tell that involved him.

“Even someone as nice as you would get annoyed by him,” Mike said, he quickly changed the subject, “What about you? How was your Thanksgiving?”

“It was okay, it would have been better if we spent it with your family like we did last year…”

From the living room, two mothers were in the middle of a conversation.

“…Just make sure Nancy has Will in bed by 9:00,” Joyce said.

“We’ll have no problem with that, I promise you Nancy has these boys taken care of,” Mrs. Wheeler said, “It won’t be like last time. She’ll check in on them to make sure the lights are off.”

The last time Joyce dropped Will off at Mike’s house, the two boys were too busy chatting it up in Mike’s basement to notice that it was hours past their bed time, 1:00 A.M., to be exact.

“Thank you so much, Karen. I really owe you one,” Mrs. Byers said, straightening her work uniform. Since Jonathan was out at a friend’s house and Joyce had a late night shift the day the Wheelers came back from their vacation, she did what she usually did and dropped Will off at the Wheeler’s household. It was a win-win for everyone: Joyce had someone to babysit her son and Will was able to spend the entire night with Mike.

"All right, we’ll have Will back at your house tomorrow evening!" Mrs. Wheeler said.

 

\------

 

“Hey, hey, Will! Nancy’s on the phone!”

Ahead of him, Will could hear Mike run down the stairs, his loud footsteps indicating his movement back into the basement.

“She is?” Will raised his eyebrows, “…Does…does that mean we can…”

“Yup!” Mike grinned, “We have to be quiet when we close the door or she might hear us leave the house.”

Will got off the couch he initially sat in and straightened out a bunch of bedsheets that were overlaid on stacks of pillows to imitate their sleeping forms. Will and Mike had told…or rather lied to Nancy that they were going to sleep early because they inevitably had a quiz in school tomorrow. Instead, they were planning on sneaking out to the quarry close to Mike’s house. They knew Nancy wouldn’t have a care in the world to double-check on them sleeping since she was too busy phoning her friend.

“Are you ready?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, I was making sure the pillows actually look like us sleeping,” Will nodded.

“Okay, let’s go!” Mike said.

With that, they both went up the stairs.

 

\------

 

Will dipped his foot into the body of the water. He jerked it out and shook his head.

“I changed my mind! I can’t!”

Mike was already swimming in the quarry lake. But Will had formed second-thoughts on actually joining him. He had never swam before and he was often afraid to try out new things. The large body of water in front of him was intimidating itself to look at.

Will watched Mike swim towards him and eventually out of the water.

“Come on, Will. It’s just a short jump,” Mike said, “See? Up there. It’s only like ten feet.”

He pointed to a ledge that made up the surroundings of the quarry. Mike had jumped off of it into the water with much ease. Will bit his bottom lip and shifted his foot on the rocky ground.

“It’s not scary. If I can do it, you can,” Mike continued, playfully tugging Will’s sleeve, “You have to try it with me, please Will? Pretty please?”

Will looked up at Mike, he saw the pleading expression radiate from his brown eyes. That was when he felt a sudden change of heart, he didn’t sneak out of the house for nothing. Standing there, only to watch Mike have all the fun, would slowly kill his mood. He had to try this…or else he’d feel regret the next day.

“Okay, okay, fine!” The shorter boy couldn’t say no to him, “You promise it’s not too scary?”

“I promise,” Mike replied. He brought up his hand and linked pinkies with Will’s, causing the shorter boy’s cheeks to flush. Will ignored that unfamiliar, momentary feeling.

Mike took Will’s hand and they both ran towards the ledge before climbing up on it. Will’s heart skipped a beat when he saw the height they were at, the body of water below them. When Mike was about to let go of Will’s hand to demonstrate how to jump off, Will kept his grip tight, not letting go.

“Can we jump off at the same time?” Will asked, his voice feeble.

“Yeah, of course!” Mike said. He looked at Will.

“Are you ready?”

Will nodded.

“Yeah.”

Mike squeezed Will’s hand to reassure the nervous boy.

“Okay, we have to take a few steps back,” Mike began.

They took a few large steps back, reaching the back end of the ledge.

“Then we run as fast as we can and make a huge jump,” Mike continued, this time looking at Will.

“T-that doesn’t seem too hard,” Will replied.

“We’re going to jump off in three…” Mike began, a smile forming on his features. Will’s lower lip trembled, his nervousness still present.

“…Two.”

Will took a deep breath.

“One!”

As they tightly held onto each other’s hands, they ran as fast as they could. When they reached the end of the ledge, they jumped high. Will’s eyes widened when they were in mid-air. He could quickly see themselves zooming towards the lake.

Will had no time to recollect his uneasy thoughts when they reached the water, the loud booming splash that came after took any attention away from that. All Will could see was blue; he thrashed his hands to bring himself back up to the surface.

He let out an airy gasp, taking in oxygen. He wiped his face to get residual water out of his eyes. He frantically waded through the lake, realizing he was no longer holding onto Mike’s hand. There was no sign of him either.

“Mike!” Will exclaimed, “Where are you?!”

He clattered his teeth, not yet used to the ice-cold temperature of the water.

Will shrieked when he felt a stream of water hit him from the back.

He immediately turned around and saw Mike. He could see the dark-haired boy break out into peals of laughter.

“Mike!” Will shouted, his voice annoyed, “That’s not funn- Mike! Mike! I’m going to drown!”

Will’s irritation changed into panic when felt himself sinking. Mike quickly swam towards Will and put an arm around his shoulder, making sure to keep the boy from drowning.

“It’s okay, you have to relax!”

Will breathing was labored, panic still overtaking him when he saw the body of water completely envelope and surround them.

“Deep breaths, Will,” Mike added.

Will bit his lip and nodded, his hold on Mike was tight. He inhaled through his nose and then he exhaled through his lips. He repeatedly did this, using this as a mechanism to distract himself from the fear and panic that had swathed any rational thought.

 

Will absently tilted his head back, staring at the pink hued sky to distract himself – his eyes particularly focused on the oncoming sunset. From the bottom of the quarry, it was a pretty sight. He was so enthralled with it that he didn’t notice Mike let go of him.

“See? You’re floating!” Mike said, “I told you it wasn’t difficult.”

Will was brought back out of his trance, finally realizing that he was floating all on his own, without the assistance of Mike. He smiled back at Mike who had a proud expression. The two of them looking at each other in that way, in silence, felt like an eternity before Will spoke up.

“Mike, there’s something behind you!”

Mike’s eyes widened and he whipped his head back.

That was when Will brought his arms back and flung a stream of water towards his friend. Before Mike could react, Will did it a second time. The brown-haired boy broke into a fit of giggles, glad that he got his friend back.

“Serves you right for scaring me earlier!”

“Wow, is that how you treat someone who teaches you not to drown?”

Will’s giggles broke out into full on laughter. That immediately stopped when Mike flung more water at Will.

“Hey!”

Will flung even more water back, re-drenching Mike. Mike quickly waded over to Will and playfully wrapped his arm around his neck. He attempted to bring Will down in the water alongside him, but Will quickly broke himself out of Mike’s grip and resumed the water-fight that they had.

After what felt like an eternity, the boys exhausted themselves and came out of the water. They both shivered, noticing their sweaters on the ground where they first left them. Luckily, it wasn’t too cold but it wasn’t warm either.

“That was really fun,” Will spoke up, putting his sweater on, “Thanks, Mike.”

“Yeah, that was something we both needed,” The other boy replied.

“But your water-fighting skills are weak.”

“Take that back, Will,” Mike said, looking particularly offended by that sentence.

“Nope!” Will grinned, “I was only pretending to freak out to make you feel better! Mike-!”

Mike placed Will into a headlock, causing the other to playfully jab his elbow against his stomach. That was when Mike let go before he began to run.

“Last one to your house has to fold up the bedsheets tomorrow morning!” Mike shouted, easily bypassing Will.

“Not fair, Mike! You’re taller than me!”

\------

 

“Shh! Not so loud,” Mike shushed Will. His footsteps were a little too rowdy for his liking when they returned to the Wheeler’s household.

“Sorry,” Will apologized; he was no able to stop smiling since their time at the quarry. He kept replaying that wonderful moment over and over again in his head. It was perfect after Mike’s week-long absence.

After drying themselves and changing into a new set of clothes, Mike’s old spares even being too big for the short-statured Will, the two boys tiptoed across the kitchen and eventually down the steps of the basement.

After a few hours of watching TV, playing on Mike’s Atari, they decided to call it day and go to sleep. Will let out an oncoming sneeze when they reached the makeshift bed Mike set up.

“Will, if you catch a cold, I’m going to get sick too,” Mike spoke up.

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” Will said, wiping the edge of his nose with his arm.

“You sure?” Mike asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Will replied, smiling at Mike.

After removing the pillows from under the bedsheets, they situated themselves beside each other on the bed. Will breathed in, the warmth of the bedsheets making him increasingly comfortable.

“Hey, Mike.”

“Yeah, Will?”

“I’m really glad you asked me to be your friend.”

“Me too,” Mike replied, “I think…it was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Will could feel his stomach flutter at those last eight words Mike said.

“Does that mean we’ll never leave each other?”

Will didn’t know why he’d ask such a question. But he did miss Mike immensely when he went out of the state for Thanksgiving. It was just a week, but it felt like such an eternity for Will as they saw each other in person every day and constantly hung out with each other, ever since they first met. A part of him felt…empty when Mike wasn’t around. No other kid his age had ever treated him as nicely as Mike had. 

“Of course,” Mike replied, turning around to face Will, “I can’t imagine you not being around.”

“Promise?” Will said.

“I promise,” Mike replied, his voice genuine, “I’ll always be by your side. We’re best friends, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Will nodded his head. Will pulled the comforter closer to his chin, “Goodnight, Mike.”

“Goodnight, Will.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1/14/19 - Also edited this chapter a bit too!

**_Two and a half years later…_ **

****

Will was counting down the days he had left of third grade. It was smackdab the middle of April and words could not describe how much he couldn’t wait for school to end. It wasn’t the hours he had to wake up at, the enormous amount of homework, or even the eight hour days – it was the bullying.

It didn’t get any better.

The taunts he received became more personal. They consisted of anything having to do with the way he looked to his family in general. Will was the shortest in his class for two consecutive years, he was tiny for a boy of nine years. He had a bowl cut and he wore Jonathan’s old hand-me-downs; that made him an easy target for such jibes. It was also the way he carried himself, his family’s social standing (divorced working-class mom of two – that didn’t sit well with some of the judgmental students), and his “nerdy” interests.

Initially, it was easy to brush off when Mike was around, but it was gradually starting to get to him. He was sick of the cruel treatment he got by some of his classmates. However, his quiet and timid personality often prevented him from standing up for himself, so it was always Mike who had to tell the bullies off. They mostly stopped bothering him when Mike was around, though Mike received the brunt of it at times since he, too, was considered the “bottom of the food-chain” in the whole student dynamic.

“Hey, Byers!”

The all-too familiar voice of the school bully, Troy.

Will sped up his walking through the hallway, pretending not to hear him.

Will quickly turned his head to the side to see if he lost the bully. However, he didn’t notice someone had his foot extended in front of him.

Will tripped forwards, landing flat on his face. He could hear the snickers around him. He bit the bottom of his lip, trying not to let any oncoming tears fall down his cheeks. He hated this. He wanted to scream at them to ‘go away’, he wanted to fight back…but he couldn’t utter those two easy words.

“Watch where you step, you faggot!”

Will didn’t know where the voice came from, but he correctly assumed it came from the guy who just tripped him. He hated that six letter word, he heard it way too many times in his life to count. The disgust in people’s voices when they uttered that word was enough to elicit a queasy feeling in his stomach. He could hear Troy laugh not too far from him.

“Isn’t that what his father called him?” Troy spoke up. He and the other boy cornered Will as the short boy gathered himself up. Troy glanced down at Will, an amused smirk marking his features, “Your father calls you that, right?”

_Right._

Will didn’t know what that word meant exactly, but he remembered his hardly-in-the-picture father calling him that before. He knew it was a bad word, the repugnance in his father’s voice when he said it made him quickly realize. He often associated the word with his unconventional interests, such as his interest in drawing and his apathy to traditionally “masculine” activities, like sports. Luckily, his mother divorced him a long time ago and barely had contact with the guy as of now, but those memories were still too fresh in his mind. The more people threw that word at him, the more it hurt.

Will tried walking away from the other two, but Troy stepped in his way.

“C’mon, answer us, Byers!”

“Leave me alone,” Will managed to mutter.

“What did you say?” Troy said, in a mocking voice, his hand comically beside his ear.

“I said, leave me alone!” Will shouted.

He was a little too surprised at how loud his voice came out, but he was glad he was able to finally stand his ground.

“Oh my god, he’s crying!” The other bully, James, said.

Will touched his cheek, it was damp…fresh tears emerging from his eyes when he shouted at them.

Troy snorted in laughter, James joined in. Their chorus of biting laughter made more tears uncontrollably fall down Will’s cheeks.

“What a freak-”

Will’s eyes widened when he saw Troy being pushed down onto the ground. Behind the fallen Troy stood Mike.

“What the hell, Wheeler?” Troy shouted as James looked on in shock. He didn’t not expect Mike’s push to send the larger Troy onto the ground.

“Don’t ever call him that again.”

“What are you gonna do about it, frogface?” Troy said, trying to push himself off the ground after he refused his friend’s help.

Mike ignored Troy’s jibes.

“Come on, Will,” Mike said. He wrapped his arm around Will’s shoulder before they left the building.

 

\------

 

“I hate those mouth breathers,” Mike broke the silence. He waited for Will to let all of his tears out before talking.

They both walked side-by-side, on their way to Will’s house. Will’s mom was lenient on letting him do that since his house wasn’t too far from Hawkins Elementary.

“It doesn’t make any sense. Why do some people have to be so awful for no reason?” Mike continued, his voice irate. He hated seeing Will cry buckets of tears after being tormented by Troy and his gang of idiots, he hated witnessing this in and out of class. It angered him.

Will firmly clutched the straps of his backpack.

“It’s because I’m a faggot.”

Will wasn’t sure why he said that so blatantly. He knew he wasn’t the most confident person, but that statement he uttered about himself even took him aback. He didn’t think he could say something so self-loathing.

Mike stopped in his tracks.

Will stopped as well, confused at Mike’s sudden action.

“Screw that,” Mike said, “So what?”

“What?” Will raised his eyebrows.

“Do you know what that word means?” Mike asked.

Will paused.

“No…not really.”

“It’s a bad word for boys who like other boys.”

“How do you know that?” Will asked.

 

\------

 

_“Hey, Dad.”_

_“What is it, Mike?”_

_“What’s a faggot?”_

_Mike’s father put down his newspaper, shock enveloping his face._

_“Where did you learn that word?”_

_“….At school. Wi– s-some person at my school keeps getting called that.”_

_…_

_The uncomfortable and appalled look on his father’s face was telling. The words he was about to say was indicative of it all._

_“It’s someone you stay away from. They’re perverted men who prey on unsuspecting boys.”_

\------

 

“Is it bad?” Will asked, “…For boys to like boys?”

“No,” Mike replied, “I don’t think so.”

“Then why does everyone else here see that as a bad thing?”

“I don’t know, some people just hate others who aren’t like them, for no good reason,” Mike said.

“Oh,” Will mumbled. That was all he could say at the moment.

“Are you okay?”

Will nodded. He wasn’t.

“Would you still be my friend if I was one?” Will suddenly asked.

“If you were what?” Mike said.

“The ‘F’ word,” Will shrugged. The nine year old all of a sudden didn’t want to say the full word. However, he didn’t know what else to describe it as…the vocabulary surrounding that was unfamiliar with him.

“Of course, Will. I don’t care who you like,” Mike replied.

Will suddenly, but inexplicably felt better. He quickly assumed it to be Mike’s reassuring words.

 

\------

 

The rest of the year went by quicker, much quicker. Before Will knew it, it was the middle of June…he was fresh out of the third grade. He was ecstatic.

His day was made even better by spending the entirety of it with Mike. He couldn’t explain it, but he had weird, unfamiliar thoughts about his best friend. An outpouring of happiness would take over his emotions when he knew he would spend the day with his friend. His comfortable and animated conversations with Mike would make him unusually giddy for days. His face would flush and he would suddenly become nervous whenever Mike complimented him. It got to the point of feeling his own stomach flutter even at the mere mention of Mike’s name. Will never spoke to Mike about it because the thought of telling Mike himself embarrassed him.

This was at the same time where some boys would playfully speak about crushes they or their friends had on other girls. Will drowned it out. It wasn’t something he understood…but he was young. Adults around him often instilled that idea on children as well, the whole trope of awkward boys beginning to have feelings for girls and vice versa at a certain young age and onward from that age. He had all the time in the world before he would eventually develop feelings for a girl, right?

Will looked beside him, staring at Mike who had his eyes on the living room TV of Will’s house. Will’s happiness masked his awareness of Mike’s faraway appearance during the entire day, until now. His eyes were glazed over and his expression looked…numb. It was almost as if he wasn’t paying attention to the contents playing on the TV itself.

“Are you okay, Mike?”

Mike looked at Will, snapping out of his reverie.

“Y-yeah,” Mike stuttered.

Will pursed his lips, unconvinced by the tone of his voice.

“Friends don’t lie.”

“It’s nothing really,” Mike shrugged, his eyes facing downward. He couldn’t look his friend in the eye.

Will sighed, still unconvinced.

Mike finally faced Will who suddenly looked down. Mike was lying; he had a lot to say to Will. It wasn’t fair to keep his best friend in the dark. Mike suddenly picked up the remote that sat next to him and turned the TV off.

“Will?”

“Yeah?” Will answered, facing Mike again. Will noticed the distraught tone in Mike’s voice.

“I’m–”

Mike stopped. He shifted on the couch beside Will, trying to find the best words to say. Will could easily sense the discomfort on him. He was unusually fidgety, repositioning his body on the couch.

“You’re what?” Will raised his eyebrows.

Will looked on at Mike, waiting for him to say something.

“…I’m moving.”

Those were the last words he wanted to hear from his best friend.

It might have seemed that way, but his biggest fear wasn’t coming to school only to be the receiving end of taunts made by his bullies. It was Mike not being with him. The person he looked up to, the person who protected him, the person who he could talk to about whatever, and the only person he could completely let his guard down against, wouldn’t be by his side anymore. A barrage of emotions ran through Will’s head. He didn’t know what to feel at the moment.

“…When are you leaving?” Will managed to say.

“I’m leaving on the first week of July.”

That was only a few weeks from now.

“H-how long did you know this for?” His voice was weaker this time.

Mike hesitated.

“I found out a month ago.”

Will’s eyes widened.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” A mixture of shock, sadness, and even anger enveloped Will’s words.

“I…I didn’t know how to say it,” Mike said, looking down at his lap. He was able to push it off well enough for the first couple of weeks after finding out, but as time passed it became more difficult to deal with and eventually tell Will. Will would often pick up on Mike’s sudden upset mood over the past month, but Mike would immediately dismiss Will’s concerns as “family problems” instead of telling his best friend the full truth.

“I’m so sorry, Will.”

The silence was unbearable for the both of them.

“Are you moving out of town? Into the city or something?” Will asked, trying his hardest to blink away oncoming tears. The sudden pang in his stomach made him all the more uncomfortable too.

“I’m moving out of the state…” Mike began, “…To California.”

That was all the way across the country.

Tears quickly fell down Will’s cheeks. That was when he turned away from Mike. He tried wiping them away, but they kept falling down. Mike could hear Will’s audible sobs.

Will was surprised his mom didn’t clue him in on this. Though, Mike’s and Will’s parents weren’t as talkative to each other as they were in the past years…mostly due to personal problems within Mike’s family. They probably didn’t have enough time to relay the news onto Will.

“Will…I’m–”

“Go away.”

Mike retreated his hand before he could even attempt to comfort Will. He was completely stunned by what his friend just said. All their years of knowing each other, Will had never gotten mad him...they did have little quarrels and disagreements, but it never got to this point. He didn’t realize Will was so capable of sounding this cold.

“Will,” Mike repeated, in a more pleading voice.

“Go away, Mike.”

This time, his voice was muddled through his sobbing.

Mike attempted to say something, but he saw Will; the boy was unmoving from his spot with his back still turned to him. He wouldn’t say anymore; he wouldn’t dare turn around to face Mike. Mike slowly and reluctantly got off the couch, hoping that Will would have a change of heart and talk to him. But he was still silent.

Mike took this as a hint and left Will’s house.

When Will heard the front door close, his eyes were suddenly on where Mike just left. He had no idea what came over him, his friend was going to be all the way across the country in just a few weeks. Pushing him away like this wasn’t the best idea and quite irrational of Will, to his own admission, but he felt a sense of betrayal. He thought Mike could tell him anything…lying about this rattled him. Plus, his sudden outpour of emotions prevented him from thinking clearly.

 

\------

****

**_A few days later…_ **

 

“Why haven’t you been hanging out with Mike lately?” Mrs. Byers asked, from outside of Will’s room, “You heard Ted and Karen are moving in a week, right?”

Will had isolated himself inside his room for the past few days, mostly drawing. He hadn’t gone outside since…that day. His mom and brother quickly picked up his distant behavior and would frequently ask if he was okay. Will simply gave them short and terse answers.

“I’m not feeling well,” Will said, lying down on his bed. He wasn’t lying. He couldn’t sleep well during the night, making him groggy throughout the day. His grogginess only amplified his grouchiness and anxiety about Mike not physically being in his life anymore. The thought of him only being able to communicate with him through the phone or through the mail horrified him.

“Are you sick?” His mother called out, “Do you need any medicine-”

“No,” Will replied, “I just want to sleep.”

“Are you sure?”

…

“Yes.”

Will shifted on his bed and closed his eyes.

 

\------

 

Another couple of weeks passed.

That was when Mike would try any attempt to talk to Will. He would bike all the way to Will’s house to see if he was there, but a pleading Will would tell his mother to answer the door instead to tell Mike he wasn’t available. Will felt a twinge of guilt, at this point he wasn’t angry at Mike, but he was too humiliated to face him – especially after the way they last left off. Joyce would repeatedly tell Will that he was being stubborn but he dismissed his mother’s efforts to get him to talk to his friend.

Will came out of his room and joined his mother for dinner.

“Are you feeling better?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Will nodded, he looked over at the table, “Are those leftovers from Monday?”

“From yesterday,” Joyce said, “I won’t be able to buy groceries till I get paid, so this is all we have for now.”

Will sat down, before uncovering his plate of food.

He was hungry, he had barely eaten much today. Maybe a little food would make him feel better.

“Mike told me he’s leaving tomorrow.”

Will was silent, absently dragging his fork. He was counting down until this dreaded day…by tomorrow afternoon, Mike would be out of Hawkins.

“Are you still not going to say bye to him? I can drive you to his house tomorrow morning if you want–”

Will sniffed. No, he couldn’t cry. Not now. He hated how emotional he could get sometimes. He hated it.

“I don’t want to go,” Will said, “I can’t do it.”

“He’s moving across the country, Will,” His mother replied, “He’s your best friend, you should at least give him a short goodbye.”

“But he lied to me,” Will said. He knew that excuse wasn’t enough. There were a plethora of reasons as to why he couldn’t face Mike…but he couldn’t tell anyone why. He felt a lump form in his throat.

“You can patch things up with him tomorrow. It’s not right if you leave him hanging like this.”

“…I can’t. I can’t do it,” Will repeated, his voice breaking.

In a matter of seconds Will couldn’t control the torrent of feelings that he kept bottled up for so long. His body shook as he began sobbing. Joyce immediately brought Will into a tight hug. Will’s tears endlessly streamed down his cheeks before he squeezed himself tight against his mother’s hold.

“I’m so scared, Mom,” Will said through sobs, “I...I don’t want him to leave. H-he’s my only friend and I-I-”

Will couldn’t finish his sentence, his crying prevented him from articulating himself clearly. His breathing stuttered when he tried gasping for air.

“…I don’t want to say bye to him…I-I’m so s-scared of saying goodbye…it’s not going to be the same without him here!”

Will closed his eyes shut, his shaking form and soft sobs still apparent.

When his crying calmed down, his mother broke their hug.

 

“I can’t force you to go to his house, but if you end up changing your mind, you have to tell me before I start my morning shift,” Joyce said, “Okay, Will?”

Will wiped his tears and cleared his throat.

“…Okay.”

 

\------

 

The next day, Will locked himself in his room again. His mom would repeatedly ask if he changed his mind.

He told her no.

This happened until she left for her shift, which started at 11:00.

The boy closed his eyes, taking in the silence that was briefly interrupted by the summer breeze that blew in through the open window and chirping birds.  It was relaxing and Will did feel relaxed, for the first time in weeks. But he didn’t feel right. He wasn’t supposed to feel relaxed, not on this day.

Will’s eyes shot open.

He looked at his watch.

It was 11:45.

“Oh my god, I’m so stupid…” Will breathed out, the realization immediately kicking in.

Will suddenly sat upwards.

He flipped over his bedsheet and abruptly jumped out of his bed, nearly falling flat on his face. He ran out of his bedroom and into the living room.

“Woah Will, where you going?” Jonathan said, taken aback by how fast Will zoomed into the room.

“To Mike’s!” He shouted.

Without giving Jonathan a chance to answer, he bounded towards the front door and ran outside without closing it.

He took his bike that leant against the house and peddled for dear life.

He didn’t know the exact time Mike would leave, but he knew it was ‘sometime during the afternoon’…he still had a little bit of time, right? Will could feel his heart pound against his chest, the anticipation killing him.

“Come on, come on!” Will huffed to himself. His bike was so slow, even at its fastest speed.

The trees beside him zoomed past, he carefully avoided the other kids that were playing outside…he made sure not to crash into any oncoming cars. He didn’t want to die before he could get his closure with his best friend.

He played out the words he would say to Mike…over and over again in his head. He would apologize for being so stubborn, he would apologize for ignoring him, he would apologize for making his poor friend worry for weeks, and he would apologize for being such an idiot.

Will wanted to tell Mike that he was the best friend anyone could have the pleasure of having, he wanted to tell Mike that he was the luckiest kid in the world to have such a friend like him, he wanted Mike to know how much he enjoyed his presence. He suddenly had so much to say to him, he wanted to say it all before they finally parted ways.

Will came to a sudden halt.

His breath shuddered.

Mike’s generously sized house and the large front yard that accompanied it was completely empty. No moving trucks, no boxes, nothing.

They had already left.

Will immediately turned his bike around to the main road to see if there was any sign of Mike’s car…or a moving truck, by miracle.

Nothing.

The road was empty.

Will felt all the energy he had before leave him. He looked back at Mike’s old house, his gaze returning to the empty property.

He was really gone.

He didn’t have any form of contact with Mike. He literally wouldn’t be able to speak to him. He didn’t even know if Mike would ever call him from his new house. Will’s lips trembled, he couldn’t bring himself to cry.

_Go away, Mike._

Those were the last words he said to him.

Will wouldn’t be able to live with himself at that realization.

 

\------

 

For weeks, Will was utterly shattered. He closed himself off even more. Mike hadn’t called him at all. Will asked his mother if she had the Wheeler’s new house number or address, but she said that they never gave it to her…so there was no way he could contact Mike. The remainder of his summer was ridden with the grief and guilt he felt at the loss of a very dear friend. It made worse with the fact that Will felt he had himself to blame for all of this.

By the time summer vacation was over, Will started fourth grade. He made a few new friends which automatically made it easier for him to cope with losing Mike. Just like Mike, they made him feel welcome and wanted.

As the months passed, Will’s shock of losing his first friend dissipated – his attention was diverted onto his rapidly improving social life with his new circle of friends, extracurriculars he joined with the influence of them, and other important events. Things got better for the nine year old. He wasn’t as emotionally dependent as he previously was, he didn’t have to rely on a single person to make everything better for him whenever things went wrong.

Then years passed.

By then, Mike was only a distant memory of Will’s.

…it wasn’t until the fall of his senior year in high school that Mike would once again become an important part of Will’s life.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Eight years later…_ **

****

“Okay, on a scale from one to ten, how excited are you for your senior year?”

“Do negative numbers count?”

“Come on, Will. It’s not going to be that bad.”

Will resisted the urge to scoff at his brother who was currently calling from the other line of the phone. His brother Jonathan was trying to calm Will’s growing anxiety and nerves that were budding the closer his first day would approach. Unfortunately his attempts weren’t helping.

“It’s your last year of high school, just ride it out,” Jonathan continued.

“Easy for you to say,” Will laughed, “You’re nearly finished with college. High school is barely a memory for you at this point.”

School was a tumultuous experience for Will and not in the good way either. He was often on the receiving end of homophobic taunts and jibes by bullies. It only got worse during his first year of high school when he dated his first and only boyfriend...a relationship which didn’t end well for many reasons. That was something he didn’t want to delve into; it was only something he kept in the back of his mind.

“You know I was miserable in school too,” The eldest sibling said. Like Will, Jonathan was an outcast during his time in school. His quiet and introverted nature made him an easy target.

“Yeah, yeah I know. I was your outlet for all your rants about ‘all the horrible kids at Hawkins High’, how could I forget,” Will said, an exasperated tone to his voice. 

“So, this year will fly by and you’ll be in whichever college you choose to go to in no time,” Jonathan spoke up, “Speaking of college, which ones are you applying to? I heard Rhode Island has one of the top art schools in the country.”

“Rhode Island School of Design,” Will corrected him, his voice a little more solemn. It was the peak of August and the 17 year old hadn’t started any of his applications. He hesitated, nervously shifting the phone to his other ear.

“…I’m not completely sure yet. I’m not sure I’ll get into any of the good ones.”

“Any of those schools would be crazy not to accept you,” Jonathan retorted, “You’re crazy talented, don’t deny that. You’ll be set if you’re able to keep your GPA high enough.”

Will bit his lip, almost becoming flustered at Jonathan’s kind words. Excessive compliments made him like that.

“I’ll start looking then, just so you guys stop worrying,” Will said. He dropped his phone to his chest when he heard his mother shout for his name. He returned the phone’s mouthpiece beside him, “Mom’s calling me for something.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to you later, Will,” Jonathan said.

“Bye Jonathan,” Will said before hanging up, he looked towards the kitchen, “I’m coming mom!”

 

\------

 

“THIS IS THE WORLD WE LIVEEEEE IN! AND THESE ARE THE HANDS WE’RE GIVEN!”

A curly-haired boy belted out the lyrics to a song as the karaoke machine behind him played the instrumental tune. Will grimaced and rubbed his temples when he heard the shrieks in his friend’s godawful singing.

USE THEM- AND LET’S START TRAINI-I MEAN, TRYING!”

“Yeah, Dustin!” Will’s other friend next to him was on his feet, swaying back and forth.

“Don’t flatter him, Lucas. You’re going to give him a big head,” A red-headed girl next to Lucas said. She pulled on Lucas’ sleeve to make him sit back down, embarrassment clearly present on her features.

Will was the last person who wanted to be here, but his four best friends dragged him. It was their last week of summer vacation before their last year of high school would start. They wanted to live it to the fullest. Will, on the other hand, preferred a more low key setting…like a movie night at his house.

“Hey, Will. You think Dustin could make it as a professional singer?” Lucas spoke over the loud music and Dustin’s off-key singing and occasional butchering of the lyrics. Before Will could say anything, Lucas continued, “Say yes to prove Max wrong!”

“If I say yes, can we all go back to my house after he’s done?” Will asked, glancing at Dustin’s enthusiastic form on the stage ahead of them.

“You haven’t changed one bit, have you?” Lucas said, sitting back in his seat.

“I have!” Will retorted.

“Not really,” A girl beside Max said.

“See? Even El agrees with me,” Lucas triumphantly said.

He was right. Will did maintain his introverted and timid nature throughout the years.  He wasn’t a huge fan of loud and rowdy environments, like the Karaoke house they were currently in. However, Will became more assertive and more open to people since he started high school. He wasn’t as reserved as he used to be, but he still maintained that general personality.

“You and Dustin are so tone-deaf,” Max rolled her eyes, resuming her quarrel with Lucas.

Will drowned out their voices, falling victim to his extensive thoughts. He took in Lucas’ words.  Aside from El, the other three extroverts would try to pull the normally hesitant 17 year old into doing activities that were outside his comfort zone. Activities ranging from house parties to simple social gatherings with unfamiliar people outside of his circle. Will sometimes felt a little bit out of the loop, mostly opting to stay home or hang out with El. But he didn’t mind, she easily got how he was, more than the others anyways.

After Dustin’s chaotic karaoke session, he theatrically bowed and jumped off the stage, joining the others.

“Well that was fun!”

“Can we go now?” Will pleaded, placing his head down on the table, chin-side up.

“Aww, I was going to ask if you wanted to join this time,” Dustin said.

Will’s face turned red.

“No, no way are you making me sing!” He fervently shook his head, putting his hands up in protest.

                                                                                                                   

\------

 

The others eventually caved into Will’s request by leaving the karaoke house. They all took in the warm night air went they reached outside. They made sure to savor the comforting weather before the cold would suddenly kick in. Fall and Winter were not kind in Hawkins.

“I can’t believe we’re starting our senior year of high school, our final year! Time goes by so fast!” Dustin exclaimed, walking ahead of everyone.

“Too fast,” El spoke up, “That marks eight years since we’ve met each other.”

Will recalled the moment he quickly made friends with these guys when he first entered fourth grade.

“Eight whole years, that’s like nearly a decade,” Lucas said, “All of a sudden I feel so old.”

“You’re 17, Lucas,” Dustin retorted, earning a roll of the eyes from the other boy.

“I’m going to miss all you losers once we graduate,” Max said, she linked arms with Lucas, “Luckily, the both of us are eyeing the same colleges.”

Will glanced at those two, they had been together since they began high school. Although they didn’t show it, they really cared about each other and couldn’t bear to live so far apart from each other.

“Hey, Will. Are you going back into the dating scene this year?” Lucas asked.

Will raised his eyebrows, wondering why Lucas would ask such a question all of a sudden.

“N-no…” Will stuttered, “Why?”

“I don’t know, you’ve just seemed a little bit uneasy lately. Maybe a boyfriend might take your mind off of all the bad thoughts…or at least most of them.”

“I don’t want a boyfriend,” Will shrugged, “My problems won’t suddenly be whisked away by one.”

“Just a suggestion!”

“…And even if I did, where am I going to find one? Hawkins, Indiana isn’t exactly the best place to find anyone who’s out in the open,” Will continued.

“What about that guy you dated during Freshman year?” El asked, “I’m sure there’s more people here who are open about their sexuality.”

“That was like a one-in-a-million chance,” Will replied, “And he turned out to be a colossal asshole.”

“True,” Max added, “I immediately got a bad vibe from that guy, the minute I first saw him. I was too nice not to say anything though.”

“I’m just going to ride out my senior year without any of that drama and see where college takes me,” Will continued.

“You’ll probably have better luck in art school,” El said, “I heard people are a lot more liberal and accepting over there…at least compared to here.”

Will’s initial suspicions of his sexuality were right. He never developed any crushes or feelings for girls throughout the remainder of elementary school, middle school, and his first three years of high school. It was always boys he fawned over. He would deny this due to all the casual and explicit homophobia he saw and experienced growing up, but he finally came to terms with it when his mother found “Mandate” magazines hidden under his pillowcase. It was the most embarrassing ordeal he had ever dealt with, but when his mom, brother, and friends immediately came to be accepting of him, he quickly came to terms with it.   

Not long after, he dated his first boyfriend…who unfortunately took advantage of his naivety and cheated on him. Will pretty much stopped dating…after that incident.

 

\------

  
**_One month later…_**

****

“Will! What’s this?”

“I’m coming, Mom! I have to get ready for work!” Will called back, he lowered his voice barely above a mumble, “…Oh god, where is it, where is it?”

He dug through the piles of clothes that were laid out on a corner in his room. After a long and rather arduous day of school, he had to cover a shift all the way from 4:30 to the crack of midnight. It was 4:15. He was going to be late if he couldn’t find his work uniform.

Will eventually found the blue uniform hidden under his piles of clothes. He immediately put it on himself before leaving his room.

“What is it?” Will asked, he saw his Mom hold onto a sheet of paper.

She didn’t look happy. At all.

Will knew exactly why.

She was holding onto his math test. The one that he just got back today. The one where he failed with a 26 F.

_Fuck. She wasn’t supposed to see that._

“Can you explain this to me?”

“I...” Will couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I thought you would do better this year. You nearly flunked out of 11th grade math!” Mrs. Byers said, “You can’t keep getting marks like this!”

“I’m sorry! I won’t fail next time!” Will apologized, “I have to go to work, my shift starts in a few minutes!”

Joyce sighed.

“You’ll have to postpone the movie. I can’t let you go out tomorrow or for the weekend.”

“What? But Mom!”

“I’ve been too lenient on you these days,” She said, “I’m only doing this for your own good, Will.”

 

\------

**_The next day…._ **

 

Will’s mother sat alone at the kitchen, reading the daily newspaper. It was the peak of Saturday morning. Will had locked himself in his room, refusing to come out for breakfast as she sat alone. It basically felt like had the house to herself at this moment of time. Although the quietness was relaxing, she wished Will could push aside his anger and fully understand the reasoning behind his punishment.

_Brrrrnnnng!_

Mrs. Byers jumped up at the sudden ring of the phone. She sighed before standing up to her feet; she walked over to the phone and answered the device.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Is this Mrs. Byers?" A woman’s voice came from the other line. Joyce raised her eyebrow at this; the voice sounded strangely familiar.

"Yes…that’s me," The voice on the other line paused for a moment before speaking once again, “Who is this?”

"It’s Karen, Mrs. Wheeler. You remember me, right?"

Mrs. Byer’s eyes widened; she was speechless. Mrs. Wheeler noticed the long pause from Joyce.

"Of course I remember you! How could I not?" Joyce exclaimed, clutching the phone in complete surprise. She was surprised that the woman was calling her after eight years of absolutely no contact. She wondered why.

"So, how’s everything going? How are Will and Jonathan?"

“They’ve been doing great. Jonathan is enjoying life at college and Will…Will is doing great, for the most part. He’s been a lot more social with other people since you last saw him,” Joyce replied, “What about you, how are things going in California?”

"Hectic, but it makes Hawkins look so drab in comparison,” Mrs. Wheeler replied, “The weather is a plus too. It’s a lot warmer here. You and Will would love it for sure, if you could visit.”

The two women caught up on some more. Mostly topics having to do with Karen’s family: Nancy almost finishing undergrad, baby Holly growing up, and Mike starting his final year in High School.

“So why the sudden call?” Joyce finally asked the question, “It’s been…eight years since we’ve spoken, not that I mind. It’s been nice to catch up.”

“Oh, I forgot to mention!” The other woman said, “We’re moving back to Hawkins! Sorry if my call was out of the blue, but I wanted to see if we could rekindle our friendship before we suddenly move back.”

“Don't apologize!” Joyce said, “I'm actually quite ecstatic you're coming back here. We should totally catch up on things, especially since so much has changed over these years! Where are you guys staying exactly?”

“We’re in the process of building a house from the ground-up. Ted wanted it to be our permanent home since we plan on living here even after his retirement,” Karen replied, “It’s really close to the local High School. As of now, the four of us are going to be cooped up in a hotel until that’s finished.”

"You should stay with us instead!" Joyce suddenly said.

There was a pause.

"I'm not sure…I mean, I'm already calling your house all of a sudden…and I don't want to overcrowd your home with the four of us," Karen noted that it was just her, Ted, Mike, and his little sister Holly that would be making the move along with her.

"Pfft! Come on, Karen. We can make extra room for you guys. Will’s room is big enough for him and Mike and we have the extra room that used to be Jonathans! I can set up a separate sleeping bag for Holly and you and Ted can share that room with her! It’s only fair if we let you stay at our place. You don’t need to stay in a dirty hotel run by complete strangers," Joyce chuckled, "Plus, we really need to catch up."

“Are you sure that’s okay?” Karen asked.

"Yes, yes! I insist!" Will’s mom replied, "So when are you two making the move?"

"Tomorrow night," She answered, she chuckled when she heard Joyce’s audible gasp from the other line, “I told you it was too sudden!”

“It’s okay, Karen,” Joyce continued to reassure her, “What time will you be in Hawkins?”

“We’ll be in Indiana by 4:30 P.M…so approximately 7:00.”

"Great! I’ll make sure to prepare a huge dinner for the six of us!" Joyce said; sometimes her natural hospitality got the better of her, causing her to go overboard with things.

"Aw, thank you so much Joyce," Mrs. Wheeler said, "Well, I have to start some last minute packing! Ted’s at work and Mike is currently at a friend’s house so they’ll be coming later to help a bit.”

"Of course! We can't wait for you guys to be here!" Joyce said.

"Thank you for letting us stay over, Joyce. It really means a lot," Karen said.

"You're welcome, it was so great talking to you."

"Same to you too."

After a few last pleasantries, Joyce finally hung up the phone.

Joyce placed the phone back. Afterwards, she smiled to herself. She couldn't stop wondering about how the Wheelers changed over these years. Her mind diverted onto Will, she assumed her son would be ecstatic that one of his old friends would be back to visit him.

Suddenly Joyce heard the door from Will’s room abruptly open; she saw her son quickly enter the kitchen, almost startling her.

"What's the rush, Will?" His mom asked.

“Mom, El has this really difficult psychology test on Monday,” He began, “She wants me to come over to her house tomorrow night to help her study.”

A lie.

He hoped his mother would fall for that hook and sinker. He really had to see that movie tomorrow– maybe she would let him go out if he lied about having to study.

“Please, Mom? She needs help, bad. The material is too confusing for her and the teacher has such rigid teaching methods that it messes her up. She says I explain things really well and offer helpful advice-”

“I’ll get back to you on that. I have some great news to tell you.”

“What is it?” Will raised his eyebrows, he hadn’t heard the conversation his mom just had as he was cooped up in his room.

“Well…earlier today, someone very important called-”

“Oh?” Will said, his attention was immediately whisked away when the details of his meticulous plan barreled back into his head, “But Mom, can I go help her study tomorrow-”

“You didn’t let me finish, Will.”

_…You interrupted me first._

Will stubbornly pursed his lips.

"A really old friend of mines just called and she and her family are moving back here. They’re coming around 7:00 tomorrow and they’ll be staying with us for a while things get settled, so we have to clean up the house and clear things out-"

"Tomorrow?” Will interrupted, again, “I can’t…I was going to see Princess Bride- h-help El study for her test! She can’t fail, she’s going to fail if I don’t-”

"Will! Don't interrupt!" Joyce said, with slight impatience in her voice. Will sighed and crossed his arms, waiting for his mother to finish. When Joyce was about to speak, Will interrupted again.

"So who's coming?" The boy said with fake interest.

Joyce paused for a moment, before speaking up.

"Do you remember the Wheelers- wait, did you say Princess Bride?” Joyce caught onto Will’s slip-up, “You were going to sneak out to the movies, right?”

“I-I-when d-did I say that??” Will nervously said.

“I told you. You can’t go. You’re still grounded.”

 _Crap._ Will knew he couldn’t walk back on that. He would slip-up even more and crumble into a mess. Lying wasn’t exactly his forte.

“Come on Mom, please! Can’t you just ground me after?” Will pleaded, indirectly admitting to his lie.

“Can’t you postpone the movies with your friends? They’ll probably have in it theaters for the next few weeks.”

“No, this showing is really special!”

“That’s what you say for all of them, Will.”

"Since when?" Will retorted, "They won’t show it again after today! I have to go see it, plus I already brought the tickets!"

"You can always return yours, right?"

Will groaned.

"This isn't fair, Mom!" Will exclaimed, before marching back into his room and closing the door shut.

Will’s mom sighed before rolling her eyes. Why did Will choose today to be so dramatic? He usually never had such a temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know princess bride came technically out in 1987 and this story takes place in 1988, but that movie seemed really fitting for the Party to watch (and it came out in late September so yeah).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update, but here it is!

Will absently leaned his forearm against the counter, begrudgingly waiting for the next costumer to come. He briefly looked at the clock ahead of him; it was 4:30 P.M…just an hour left until his shift ended. Time seemed to go by slow the more he checked the time so he nagged to himself that he would do it less often. Too bad only 10 minutes had gone past since he last looked at the clock. He slumped down further and rested his hands on his chin, his tiredness overcoming him.

God he hated this job.

As an attempt to keep his spirits up, he constantly reminded himself of the pay he earned. For a customer service associate, it wasn’t too bad; he was able to use the lump sums of money he earned to buy much needed art supplies. As everyone around him knew, his true passion was art. He loved all kinds of artistic mediums and he would spend a fortune on supplies due to that.

That at least gave him a leg up to greet customers with an enthusiastic enough tone, however fake it was. 

But on this particular day, he wasn’t in the mood for work to finish in one hour. All he wanted to do was go home at this very moment; today was already a long day and he was in a bad mood. He recalled his teacher had pulled him aside after class had finished and lectured him about his horrific math grades after showing the F he got on his first test. His mother had discovered this as he found his test peeking through his backpack. She had never seen her so disappointed before as she continually lectured him about his dwindling grades the following day after being punished. To add insult to injury, Will was prohibited from going with his friends, Dustin and Lucas, to the movies to see the much anticipated Princess Bride because of that.

When Will was about to let out a yawn, he was interrupted by a few chuckles. He slightly turned around and saw two of his coworkers standing behind the employee entrance, their chuckles turning into barely stifled laughter as they saw Will look their way.  

“…look at the way he’s staring at us, all doe-eyed and shit,” One of them said, not a care in the world that Will could hear them in plain view. It was as almost if they wanted him to hear.

“You think he has feelings for you?” The other said.

The first boy let out a loud bark of laughter before playfully shoving his friend on the shoulder.

“…Dude, you’re disgusting! I better hope that fag doesn’t!”

Will faced the counter again, trying his best to drown out their voices. This continued to be a normal occurrence for him, in and outside of school. His vulnerable nature and his nonconventional interests such as his passion for art – translated into homophobic insults being made towards him. The bullying had gotten so bad that they had even spread mortifying rumors about his sexuality. Will kept telling himself not to care, but that alone didn’t help.

“Did you hear that back in middle school, he tried to coerce the whole football team to have…y’know…” The first boy whispered the remainder of the sentence into his friend’s ear. They both roared in laughter, making dramatic ‘eww’ noises in disgust.

 

“I keep telling you that those types of people are predatory…so you- _we_ better watch our backs when we’re around him.”

“Damn straight,” The second boy replied, “That means being extra cautious since he goes to school with us too.”

Their chuckles died down as they walked back into the employee room, leaving Will to stand behind the counter in shame. He bit his bottom lip, looking downwards and pressing his fists down on the counter desk.

He wondered what people gained from being so awful, especially since he never did anything to them. Aside from his best friends, he always kept to himself and was always polite to others. He wondered what they gained from spreading such nasty rumors and lies about what he’s done. ‘ _What did I ever do to you guys?!’_ He wanted to march up to them and yell, but he couldn’t bring himself to. He could feel tears gather in his eyes, blurring his vision. He had gotten good at holding in his tears until he found some place alone to cry in, but he couldn’t this time. He knew it was the stress of this horrible day that had finally gotten to him with the bullies just setting him off.

He felt a single tear drop next to his already white knuckles. He profusely wiped his cheeks with his sleeve, there was no way he could cry at work or even look downcast. The never-ending jibes and lectures of how timid and nervous he presented himself as by his manager would continue. He had to put on a fake smile.

 

\------

 

The longest and most brutal day of work was finally over for Will. Although he barely had any costumers today, it still felt that way. The events that culminated over the past few days or even month rather. Senior year was a rough start for him. His school workload, his rapidly creeping senioritis, and the grueling hours of his job confirmed that. Jonathan’s reassurances over the phone were an afterthought at this point.

Will clocked out and left the customer service counter, ready to exit the store and go home.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks, almost forgetting that he had to buy bottled soda and snacks for the guests that were to visit. Now that he thought about it, his mother didn’t have the chance to tell him whoever was coming exactly. Will had spent the remainder of yesterday in his room meticulously reviewing his math notes after angrily sulking to his room. Today, he started his shift at the early hours of 9:00. His mom was also busy, cleaning the house and working as well. Will shrugged it off, not that he cared too much. That was bound to happen with such busy schedules.

Will let out an exasperated groan when he couldn’t find a shopping cart. Instead, he went to the snack area of the super market without one.

The boy picked out all sorts of refreshments, until he could no longer carry any more. He grimaced, realizing he might have gotten a bit too much. The pile of snacks ranging from chips to cookies and soft drinks he had wrapped around his arms almost looked comical on his small frame.

Will barely rounded the corner of the snack aisle before he felt himself bump straight into another person. Not a graceful, soft bump, but a rather abrupt slam. Within an instant, the contents he carried fell out of his arms. He instinctively leant back, disturbed by the sudden impact. Forgetting to catch his footing, he fell backwards.

“Fuck!” Will cursed, his landing against the ground painful. He was actually surprised at his use of profanity. Dustin’s speech patterns really rubbed off on him. His eyes suddenly widened, looking at all the snacks that surrounded him, the bottled drinks rolling away from him.

…. _Could this day get any worse?_

Will looked upwards, seeing who it was he bumped into exactly. When he was about to apologize for not looking, he stopped.

He almost did a double take at the other boy who stood front of him.

If Will could pick anything…anything to describe the most attractive person he’s ever laid eyes on, it would be this guy. He didn’t think he was overstating anything when he thought that; this guy was incredibly good looking. He had thick and wavy dark hair that were itching to curl at the ends with the most alluring brown eyes. His angular-shaped face was complimented by well-defined cheekbones…not to mention his lips, _god he had such kissable lips._

“…Is everything okay?” The other boy continued to stare at Will, the brown-haired boy strangely looked like he was petrified. His hazel eyes were wide and his mouth was parted, his entire body unmoving.

Will snapped out of it, realizing that the guy was asking him that again and _just now_ realizing he was staring at the guy like an idiot for the longest time. He didn’t want to make this awkward…well, he was generally an awkward person around people he didn’t know well. But to make matters worse, this guy was utterly gorgeous. This would be sure to send him to a crumbling mess.

“…Y-yes!” Will almost grimaced, the sound of his voice coming out more high pitched than intended; he regained his composure…well, almost, “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking.”

“Here, let me help you up,” He said. He extended his arm towards the fallen Will.

Will could feel his heartrate go up as he glanced up at the guy, to get another close look at him. There was something that seemed unusually familiar about the guy, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. His grogginess and tiredness was getting in the way of any rational thought. He couldn’t wait to get home, begrudgingly introduce himself to the visitors and then go to sleep. He really needed the rest.

Will realized he was probably looking straight at the guy like a bumbling idiot.

_Snap out of it, Will. Take his goddamn hand!_

Will slowly extended his arm and grabbed his hand and the guy effortlessly pulled him up. He took note of the height difference between them; although they looked around the same age, the short-statured Will only reached his chin.

He then glanced at all the fallen items he previously carried. When he was about to crouch over to pick them up, the guy spoke again.

“You can put your stuff in my cart if you want, so you don’t have carry them all at once.”

Will could feel his cheeks heat up when the guy smiled at him.

“Are you- are you sure?” Will raised his eyebrows. Although he had dated somebody before, he was notoriously bad at talking to people he found attractive, this was compounded by the presence of this guy who he found extremely good-looking. Much to Will’s annoyance, his friends often teased him for his awkwardness.

“Yeah, I was already done getting what I needed to get,” The guy said, “Let me help.”

Both Will and the guy crouched down, gathering the snack items and drinks. Will nearly doubled over when he felt the guy’s stare on him for a moment. He suddenly couldn’t look the guy in the face– instead, his eyes were glued onto the bag of Lay’s chips he was about to reach for. Will noticed how shaky his hand was; he hoped to god the other boy wouldn’t notice his trembling arm.

When they gathered all the items and fit them on the side of the guy’s shopping cart, Will shot upwards.

“Shoot, I forgot something!” Will nearly slapped himself on the face. _He needed to get the blasted silverware!_ His mother had nagged him about them needing eating utensils since they were running out of those. He suddenly felt a wave of guilt, the guy probably needed to get somewhere quick and he was going to hold him up just to look for a box of forks, “I’m sorry- I’ll be right back. I’ll only take two seconds.”

_…Two seconds?_

“Alright,” The guy said; he smiled again – rather amused at Will’s eccentric behavior.

Will moved at fast pace, almost at running speed when he exited the snack aisle of the store. He cringed at himself for that unnecessary addition. He suddenly stopped when he reached the aisle that contained silverware and other kitchen items. The brown-haired boy let out a deep breath, just now noticing he was holding it in.

_Come on, get it together, Will! Act normal for once! He’s just a regular person, a regular person…who just happens to be insanely attractive. Fuck._

Will snapped out of his thoughts and grabbed the box of forks. He bit his lip and made his way back to the previous aisle he was in. His heartbeat was slowly crawling back up when he could see the guy waiting for him at the other end. Will almost cursed himself for his stiff body language, he had to loosen up. He couldn’t clam up and not say a thing to the kind stranger, he needed to come off as more approachable.

“Imagine if I forgot these…” Will waved the box of forks before putting them on his side of the cart, making sure to keep his items separate from the guy’s items.

_Jesus fuck I’m so awkward._

The guy simply chuckled, unjudging of Will’s awkwardness. Will’s heart nearly fluttered at the pleasant sound of his laughter. The guy glanced once more at the generous amount of food items Will bought.

“Are you having an all-night binge on chips and soda?” He peeked under one of the bags of chips which revealed a box of cookies, “…with a side of chocolate-chip cookies?”

Will laughed at the guy’s use of humor.

“No, we’re having a bunch of visitors stay over for a while. We can’t leave them hungry without snacks,” Will said.

“That makes more sense,” He replied, he looked down at Will, “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, I’m finished,” Will said.

They left the aisle, proceeding to make their way towards the cashier area. They were side-by-side, the mystery guy pushing the shopping cart forwards. Just when Will thought he was loosening up, his uncharacteristic uneasiness was getting the better of him when it was quiet between the both of them. When he felt the guy’s stare on him again, Will glanced up at him.

“W-what?” Will stuttered, “Is there something on my face?”

Before the guy could respond, Will habitually wiped both sides of his mouth with the back of his hand. He then quickly felt the sides of his face to see if he could feel anything strange on it.

“No, no,” The guy shook his head, tearing his gaze away from Will. A smile grew on his face, “Sorry- It’s just that…you look really familiar.”

Will immediately placed his hands down, his embarrassment shooting up, “…Oh.”

_Interesting. I could say the same about you._

The two stopped when they reached a rather long line of people waiting to get their items checked out. It was quiet between the two once again; Will was able to hear his persistent, thumping heartbeat. He could feel sweat gather at his hands as the uncomfortable silence between them lingered. Will thought he probably looked like an idi-

“You work here?” The guy noticed Will was wearing a work uniform – the logo and name of the store etched on the side of his shirt.

“Huh? Oh! I- Uhh-y-yeah,” Will snapped out of his reverie, stumbling on his speech, “I do, I’m a costumer’s service associate.”

“You look a little young to be working costumer service.”

_Come on, get it together!_

Will hated how shy he was sometimes; the guy was clearly trying to make conversation with him. He had to reciprocate. Once they both got their items checked out, they would both be out of this store and onto their separate ways.  That would probably be the last time Will would ever see him if he didn’t continue or initiate in any way.

He had to say something, anything.

“...I-I get that a lot. I look young for my age…but I’m seventeen; I swear,” Will said, cracking a smile.

“That makes us the same age then,” The guy replied, smiling back. Will couldn’t help but to smile bigger; this guy’s smile was so infectious.

“Does that mean you go to Hawkins High?” Will suddenly asked. It was a small town...and there was only one high school within the vicinity...which was Hawkins High. Maybe Will would have his stroke of luck and this wouldn’t be the possible last time he’d ever see this guy.

“I actually just moved here today,” He said, “My family’s been adjusting so I start school there on Monday.”

A wave of relief washed on Will’s face; his smile not going away. _That means this won’t be the last I see him!_

“…Wow that’s a little fast. I would’ve taken a week off before I started,” Will coolly replied, trying his best to keep his sudden jolt of excitement to himself, “What city did you move from?”

“I moved from out of the state. California was a bit much for me, so I’m hoping Hawkins stayed the same after all these years.”

“You’ll be fine here,” Will reassured him, glossing over the particular state and the last seven words of the guy’s sentence, “People are friendly…for the most part, at least outside of school.”

“Especially the customer service representatives,” He replied, finishing Will’s sentence.

When Will realized where he was getting at; his face turned beat red. He knew there was a modicum of joking behind the guy’s voice, but there was something so genuine behind that statement. Will quietly laughed, avoiding the guy’s stare.

“…I try, I guess,” He finally replied, flustered to the core. When he regained his composure, he looked the guy in the face once again, “It’s my job, I’m trained to appease costumers regardless of what complaints they have. They’re always right even when they’re wrong.”

The guy chuckled at Will’s last sentence. Will bit his lip to prevent from grinning like a maniac; to him, this guy was the ultimate package, in a superficial way at least. His dorky but cute laughter added to that.

“Why Hawkins out of all places?” Will heard himself ask.

“My dad’s job. We’ve moved a lot cause of it,” He replied, “I lived here years ago, but then we moved to California. We pretty much moved all over the state since then.”

“That sounds exciting. I’ve lived here my entire life; sometimes I kinda wish I could’ve travelled out of the state and around the country often,” The shorter boy replied. He could feel his nervousness subside as his words began to come out naturally, “Hawkins does get a little bit boring from time to time…it’s a safe town but nothing much happens here.”

“Trust me, the amount of moving from place to place that comes with that is really draining,” The guy said, a more solemn tone to his voice, “Starting from scratch and having to make new friends after you’ve just adjusted to the last place you moved out from is not fun.”

“I guess so,” Will shrugged.

“If my dad’s work becomes stable, maybe this might be our permanent home,” The other boy said.

“Well…let’s hope that happens then,” Will suddenly said, a small smile gracing his features.

Will felt his discomfort come back when there was a short silence between them. _Did I over-step? Did I say something out of line? Did I accidently flirt with him?_ Will dismissed those silly thoughts when they finally reached the front of the line, ready to get their items checked out. When Will was about to place a lane divider to separate his and the guy’s grocery items, the guy stopped him.

“I’ll pay for both our items,” The guy said to the cashier.

Will raised his eyebrows, “Y-you don’t have to-”

“It’s okay; I have enough money on me,” He interrupted Will, a reassuring smile on his face. Will’s stomach did that fluttery thing again; the shorter boy couldn’t protest. However, he was enthralled. He thought this guy was too perfect for words. It was something ridiculous to say as nobody was, but his kindness was enough to make him melt right here and there.

Once they checked out the items, they walked together in comfortable silence until they reached the parking lot.

“Thank you so much,” Will said, after putting the last of his groceries in the back trunk of his car.

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” The guy replied.

“I really mean it. Things haven’t been the best for me lately. I was having a really bad day…or week, rather. But you made it a little bit better,” Will continued, he looked down at the parking-lot ground, his cheeks turning a rosy pink, “…so thanks for that, I guess.”

The guy was flustered, mostly at the fact that he had that much of an impact on a stranger’s day. After a few more last words, they gave each other amicable ‘goodbye’s’.

This was it, he was going to leave.

When Will could see the guy about to turn on his heel to exit the particular parking space, he stopped.

“Hey, um…whatever’s going on, I’m sure things will get better,” He said, awkwardly shoving one of his hands in the pocket of his jacket, “Just hang in there.”

Will’s eyes widened. However, he was very flattered at his genuine concern.

“I know, a lot just happened today,” Will replied, a smile forming on his face, “Thank you.”

The other boy returned his smile.

With that, he made his way out of the parking space area and eventually out of his sight. Will was in a complete daze, utterly smitten by the stranger he just encountered. He would make it his life’s mission to scope him out in his high school beginning Monday…hopefully he would see him…or at least had classes with him.

Then Will realized.

He forgot to ask his name!

 

\------

 

Will begrudgingly opened the door to his house, his good mood from that wonderful encounter he had diminishing and then his conscious snapping back into reality. Right now, he could be having the time of life…watching a special showing he waited months for. He was also made to do some deep cleaning of the house for visitors he could probably care less about...and he had to help his mom finish cooking the array of dinner items for them.

"Come on, Will! They’re going to be here any minute!" Joyce squawked from the kitchen.

A couple of arduous hours of prepping for the visitors had passed.

"I'm coming!" Will yelled back. The boy changed into a neat set of clothing and straightened any loose ends on his hair. He looked out of his bedroom window, staring at the night sky. The movie was starting by now, all his friends were out in the theater getting ready to have the time of their lives…and Will just HAD to miss it all for this…

Will attempted to kick a few of his outfits that were sprawled on the ground so the clothes would be out of his way, but instead he tripped and fell on his back.

"Shit!" He cried.

"Will! The table! I forgot to set up the table!"

"Hold on a second!" Will shouted, as he rose back to his feet. He impatiently threw his scattered clothes into his closet. He forgot to finish cleaning up his room.

Will couldn't help but to think of the handsome customer from earlier. He looked so eerily familiar…but he couldn't pinpoint it. He could've even asked for his name…but no…his nervousness prevented him from thinking clearly. He was also running on only a few hours of sleep, he couldn’t put two and two together when his mind was muddled from that.

The brown-haired boy left his room and closed the door to resume helping his mom.

Then at the worst possible time…

…they heard a few knocks behind the door.

“Oh shoot!" Joyce exclaimed, her voice panicky, "It must be them!"

"Calm down, Mom. I’ll set up table and you can go answer the door," Will said, in a quieter voice.

“Okay, the tablecloth is on the counter over there,” She replied, trying her best not to freak out, before scurrying to the front door. She really wanted to impress these people…whoever they were going to be. Will, yet again, had forgotten to ask his mom about that.

Will quickly grabbed the tablecloth and set it over the table, making sure to smooth out the edges. He could vaguely hear voices from outside – the visitors waiting at the front door.

He heard his mom grab onto the doorknob and turned it. The door opened.

“Joyce!”

That voice sounded familiar.

“Karen, Ted! You came early!” Joyce’s voice said from the living room.

_Ted and Karen..._

_Ted and Karen Wheeler?_

Will snapped his head upwards. His eyes nearly fell out of his sockets from how wide they were.

He saw both the adults his mother referred to as ‘Ted’ and ‘Karen’. Behind them he saw a short blonde-haired girl…Holly Wheeler? Then his heartbeat spiked when he saw the taller boy with raven black hair who was behind the other three.

The boy who was standing behind them…was the very same guy from the shop.

Which meant that the guy from the store was…

…Mike Wheeler.

It all came together.

Memories that were once an obscurity of Will’s thoughts, suddenly came crashing in – once again becoming the forefront of his mind. Recollections of the first person he had ever befriended came back: the copious amounts of time they spent together, the deep-seated feelings he had for him, the pain of losing him when he moved to California. After almost eight years of not speaking to him, not ever once mentioning him, not even thinking about him…he was right here, physically in his house.

Will's mouth was still wide agape. He couldn't believe it. No wonder he looked so familiar. It was all coming back…the familiar facial features…the memories he shared with him…all of it.

“…Yes, Will’s in the kitchen, he helped a lot today,” Will heard Joyce’s voice from the periphery of his concentration.

Will could have sworn he almost had a heart attack when he caught Mike’s eyes on him for the first time.

Mike had the same look of surprise on his face too. The two stood across from each other, unable to form anything clear of a sentence, the surprise was just way too evident. Will did a double-take at how much he had changed since they last saw each other in primary school…which is obviously inevitable. But the stark difference between the good-looking guy in front of him and the dorky, nerdy kid he befriended all those years ago was so surprising.

"You’re…" Mike managed to speak, complete shock apparent in his voice.

Before Mike could say anything more, Will felt this unfamiliar sensation in his chest, a weird, tingly feeling. He could not believe this. He really could not believe it all. His head was becoming foggy…

Will, all of a sudden, keeled over.

“Will!”

He heard his mother’s terrified voice before everything turned black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I feel so bad but I LOVE LEAVING CLIFFHANGERS.


	5. Chapter 5

Will furrowed his brows, trying to adjust his eyes to the sudden rush of sunlight that peered through the blinds of his window. He shifted on his bed, no longer facing the intensity of the light that almost blinded him. He fully opened his eyes, seeing the blurs of his bedroom slowly come into focus.

He was on his bed.

His noticed his room was devoid of the usual clutter, the pile of clothes he always had out in plain view chaotically hidden behind the closet door. Beside his bed on the floor was a sleeping bag.

Then he remembered.

Visitors. They had visitors come in yesterday and they were staying in for a while. That was when he passed out…and woke up in his bedroom well into the hours of the midmorning. Will scratched his head as he glanced at the clock beside him: 10:15 A.M. But why did he pass out?

Will’s eyes suddenly widened. That was when it all came crashing in.

These weren’t just any regular visitors. They were very special visitors – the Wheeler family, which included Mike Wheeler. Mike Wheeler was his very first friend, the friend who he shared an incredible bond with, the friend who he sobbed over for weeks after he moved, the friend who he nearly forgot about over the years.

Will frowned, trying to connect it all together.

Mike Wheeler and the insanely attractive guy from the supermarket were the same person.

That meant ‘insanely attractive guy from supermarket’ was in his house at this very moment, sharing a bedroom with him.

“...Oh my god!” Will exclaimed, his face breaking into a sudden grin.

He suddenly covered his mouth, realizing his voice was nearly on the verge of shouting. He couldn’t believe this was really happening. All of the horrid events that transpired over the week were suddenly in the back of his mind.

He quickly got out of his bed, before changing into a fresh pair of clothes.

When he was about to exit the door of his bedroom, he stopped.

What was he going to say? He just fell over and fainted in front of everyone last night, in front of Mike. That was not a first impression he wanted to make to a very dear friend he didn’t speak to for eight years. Because of that disconcerting ordeal, he had no idea how to confront the others. Will grimaced, a sudden jolt of anxiety coming about.

Will gulped. He couldn’t stay inside his room forever. He had to leave and join the others for breakfast sooner or later.

He closed his eyes, took in a deep breath and let it out before opening the door.

Before he could walk out, he bumped headfirst into another person.

It didn’t take long for Will to realize he crashed straight into Mike. Will’s face was awkwardly planted onto his chest for a split second before Mike removed himself, steadying Will with his hands on either of his arms. Will’s cheeks must have had the same coloration as a ripe tomato when he looked up at Mike.

“I’m so sorry- I wasn’t looking, my eyes were closed and I- oh god, why do I keep bumping into you like this…”

Mike bit his lip, resisting the urge to laugh at Will’s natural clumsiness.

“You haven’t changed at all, Will,” The taller smiled, he glanced at the small bruise that formed on the left corner of Will’s cheek, “Are you feeling better? You took a really bad fall last night.”

Everyone seemed to say that about him. Although he stubbornly denied that, he relatively remained the same, personality-wise on an outer scale. That type of comment even diverged onto his general appearance. He did change, but he was still recognizable. He was still short, a meager 5’6” – and he was still growing, but due to his mother’s short height, he assumed he wouldn’t grow past 5’7”. Lucas often said he would shoot up a few inches, but Will thought otherwise and thought his friend was only saying that just to be nice. Although he got rid of the bowl cut by the time sophomore year rolled out and opted for ordinary bangs, his facial features didn’t change all that much since he entered high school.

“My head hurts a little, but I’m okay,” Will replied, “I was on my feet non-stop yesterday and I didn’t get much sleep, so I’m pretty sure it’s just that.”

“That’s good, your mom was freaking out last night. She told me to check up on you after she did several times,” Mike said, remembering the frantic Joyce drop a casserole dish on the ground right when Will was lying down motionless.

There was a short bout of silence between the two, letting Will once again take in all of this. The brown-haired boy wanted to pinch himself as he was on the verge of believing the entirety of this was a dream…a really vivid and incredible dream. But it wasn’t, this was real…or else he would have woke himself up by now.  

“I just can’t believe all of this,” Mike spoke again, causing Will to raise his eyebrows, “Meeting you at the supermarket, of all places. I kept thinking to myself that there was something familiar about you, something really familiar.”

“I had those exact same thoughts too. I just couldn’t connect two-and-two together, for some reason,” Will said; he suddenly smiled, “I’m so glad you’re back, Mike.”

There was a brief twinkle in Mike’s warm brown eyes. He couldn’t help but to grin at Will, the shorter boy’s jubilant expression was enough to make him melt.

“Aw, Will. Come here,” Mike said, extending his arms for a hug.

Will eagerly returned his hug, his arms encircling his back. Will shut his eyes, making sure to reminisce every second of this. They did leave off of on a bad note the last time they saw each other, but that was never touched upon. All that mattered to Will was that they were reunited. Before the shorter boy could dig himself further into his embrace, a voice interrupted them.

“Will, you’re awake!” Mike and a very reluctant Will broke out of each other’s short-lasting hug when they saw Joyce barging towards them.

“Are you okay? Does your head hurt?” Will’s mom sad, “You haven’t drank anything in hours, you need a glass of water-”

“I’m fine, Mom. I’m okay,” Will interrupted, a bit peeved that his and Mike’s special moment was interrupted.

 

\------

 

Will was properly re-introduced to Mike’s parents and then his little sister Holly – who was currently in middle school.

After Will got a glass of water and some already cooked breakfast, he joined the others in the living room. He saw the adults: Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler, and his mom deep in a riveting and enthusiastic conversation, Mike joining in from time to time. His younger sister, Holly, sat beside him, her eyes glued onto a book she was reading. Will felt his heartrate increase ten-fold when Mike’s eyes drifted from the conversation that the adults were having and onto his presence; the dark-haired boy smiled at him. Will could have sworn he felt his knees buckle on the way. He managed to give Mike a weak smile before sitting down in the empty single sofa chair.

“That’s wonderful, Ted. You must be making a fortune by now,” Will heard his mother say, once he listened in on their conversation.

Mr. Wheeler chuckled, a bit flustered at the compliments Joyce was throwing his way.

“You’re too kind, Joyce. But not a fortune, things have been looking up lately though,” The father replied, downplaying the excessive amount of money he was making, “Mike plans on taking over the business once he’s out of college. He’s already been preparing since he entered high school; we couldn’t be more proud of him.”

“Since high school?” Joyce said, shocked. Will had overheard their conversation when he was getting food. Ted had gone onto a tangent about his occupation – he was the CEO of a bank holding company. Knowing that type of occupation, Will knew that Ted made well into six figures. He was almost envious of the Wheeler family.

Mike shifted in his seat, his body language less relaxed.

“Someone has to take over once I retire, right?” Ted said, causing Karen to chuckle beside him.

“There’s a lot I have to learn,” Mike spoke up, “But I’ll be more than prepared once I start all my courses in college.”

“Where do you plan on going? For college?” Joyce asked.

Will’s eyes remained on Mike, waiting for the dark-haired boy to answer. He could sense the discomfort in his body language, his easy-going countenance from earlier this morning not there anymore.

“I’m not s-”

“Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University…the list goes on. We’ve already got Mike to start his applications early since he’s applying to so many,” Ted said, not realizing he interrupted Mike.

That intimidated Will. That was a far cry from the lack of choices that Will conjured up. _…and did he say Harvard?_ Mike was also smart too…well, he’s always been smart. Will knew that Mike had a natural prowess for technical and trickier subjects, easily excelling at them and scoring good grades. Will, on the other hand, was terrible at those. Case in point: his math grades.

“…Harvard? That’s amazing.”

“That’s our- that’s Mike’s top choice.” Karen added, “Right, Mike?”

Mike resisted the urge to sink further in his seat. He really hated when his parents would “brag” about him to other parents they came across.

“Yeah,” He nervously replied, his face turning a light shade of red, “Harvard’s my top pick.”

“It be unfortunate if he didn’t get in. All that hard work for nothing,” Karen said; she faced Will, “What about you, Will?”

Mike’s nervousness suddenly diminished once the attention was taken off of him. He looked at Will, a burning interest emerging. Will’s heart raced. Like Mike, he hated being put on the spot like this, especially for matters like these. But they were just trying to make conversation, he couldn’t blame them.

“I-um…” Will began, realizing he hadn’t spoken since he sat down. He cleared his throat, hoping that there wouldn’t be too much judgement towards his next words, “I don’t know yet…I’m still kind of undecided.”

There was brief silence, which easily made Will uncomfortable. He could have sworn Ted and Karen were trying their hardest not to say anything that would offend Will. He glanced at Holly who was still drowning out the boring conversation. He then looked at Mike who gave him a brief, but reassuring and unjudging smile. Will bit his lip and looked downwards, flustered at Mike’s action.

“He has his eye on Art school,” Joyce said, smiling at Will.

That was when Mike’s eyes lit up.

“Really, Will?” His expression becoming animated all of a sudden.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine doing anything else,” He replied, looking at Mike again.

“You’re really talented; you won’t have any trouble getting into one,” Mike continued. He did remember Will’s enormous love for art, so it was exciting to him that Will continued to pursue that passion, “So I doubt you have to stress out about it too much.”

“…Thank you, Mike. That means a lot.” … _Coming from you._

He wanted to say those last three words, so badly. But he refrained from doing so.

He normally would have protested against those compliments if any other person told him. But the way Mike said it was so genuine. He wasn’t saying those words to make him feel better; he was saying them because he meant it. Mike had seen all the sketches, paintings, crafts – countless pieces of art that Will had created. He was always baffled at Will’s rare talent at such a young age.

It had only been less than a day since Will knew, or rather, “re-met” Mike and he was already falling hard for him.

 

\------

 

After the rather long breakfast, Mr. Wheeler mentioned that the two vehicles he owned were ready for him to pick up. Joyce offered to drive him and wife over to the car garage. Before she could get ready, she noticed the numerous amounts of dishes in the sink, stacked upon each other. She was ready to ask Will if he could do them while she was gone, but Will was currently recovering from what happened yesterday – it wouldn’t be right of her to do that.

From the living room, Will lay back on the three-seat sofa, sketchbook in hand. He was fully immersed in his work, adding depth to the areas within the outlines of a sketch he began on the other day.

“I can do them for you, Mrs. Byers,” Mike spoke up, from the kitchen. Will ceased drawing and glanced at the other boy, his eyes peeking from the couch.

“Really? Are you sure?” She asked.

“Yeah, you should get ready,” He insisted.  

“Thank you so much, Mike. You’re a lifesaver!” She said before heading towards her bedroom.

A few moments later, the adults left, leaving Mike and Will alone. Will saw the other in front of the sink, dishes overcrowding it. Pots and pans from last night’s dinner were settled on the counter. Mike looked bamboozled, not knowing where to start. Will resisted the urge to let out an amused smile as he watched the confused Mike reluctantly pick up dishes from the sink to clear one of the sides. When the dark-haired male grabbed the sink sprayer, a torrent of water from the sprinkler instantly hit his face.

“Oh shit!”

Will’s momentary lapse of amusement changed into shock. He quickly set aside his sketchbook, hopped off the couch, and dashed towards the sink. He grabbed the sink sprayer from Mike and pressed a button, turning it off.

“You’re not supposed to press the button,” Will said, a small grin suddenly forming on his features. He gestured towards a small knob on the side of the sprayer. The shorter boy tried holding in his oncoming laughter when he saw Mike’s drenched face, his bangs sticking to his forehead.

“I didn’t press anything though, I literally picked it up and w-” Mike stopped, his bemused expression more pronounced. He noticed Will, the boy had his hand partially covering his grinning mouth, “Will Byers, are you laughing at me?”

“No,” Will lied, shaking his head. All of a sudden his silent giggles and shaking shoulders were replaced by actual laughter. He couldn’t hold in it longer.

Will felt the sprayer being removed from his grip. Mike playfully had the sink component aimed at Will’s face, his index finger right on top of the button.

“Mike! Don’t!” Will cried, reflexively protecting his face with his hands. He tried his hardest to subside his heavy chuckles. When he calmed down, he grabbed the sprayer back from Mike’s grip, his hands brushing against his, “Let me help. You might injure yourself.”

“Haha,” Mike deadpanned. He couldn’t hold onto his humiliation any longer when he saw the bright smile on Will’s face. Will’s smile would instantly make him melt.

“Here, you can clean the plates with the dish soap and sponge,” The shorter said, reaching over in front of Mike to grab the sponge, “…and I can wash them.”

“If you insist,” Mike replied, he looked at Will, “Just tell me if you aren’t feeling well and I’ll finish the rest.”

“Okay,” Will said, enormously grateful that Mike was so concerned about his wellbeing. That part of him never left.

The two stood side-by-side in front of the sink, Mike gathering dish soap on the sponge and washing the plates before he passed on the plate for Will to wash. Will placed the washed plate onto the dish rack. There was a comfortable silence between the two boys, the assembly line-like technique of washing dishes seemingly therapeutic to them. Will kept his head low as he smiled to himself, keeping his gleeful excitement under wraps. Their close proximity and occasionally touching arms made added to that giddy feeling.

“Hey, Mike...”

“What’s up, Will?”

Mike was almost taken aback by the solemn tone in Will’s voice, but he brushed it off, waiting for him to answer.

“What happened after I passed out?” Will asked. He was surprised he asked such a question, seemingly out of nowhere, but his burning curiosity wouldn’t leave him.  

“From the sound of your voice, I thought you were about to say something morbid,” The other said, earning a small chuckle from Will.

 “No, nothing morbid. I’m just curious,” Will said, “Did my mom say anything embarrassing during dinner?”

Mike laughed, also surprised Will would bring this up of all the possible questions he could ask about yesterday.

“If she did, I probably don’t remember. I’m pretty sure we were all too worried about you to do that, especially your mom. She checked on you every few minutes to make sure you were still breathing,” He replied, “…Why does that matter so much?”

 Will’s face flushed red, “I don’t know, just a little self-conscious, I guess.”

 “You shouldn’t be,” Mike said, handing a washed plate to Will, who in turn took the dish from him. Will’s eyes wouldn’t leave the plates he was washing, his easily ruffled nature getting the better of him.

“It’s kind of hard not to be, especially when I’m around people like you-” Will stopped, his eyes widening, “…wow, that didn’t come out right. W-what I mean is that you’re a pretty cool person and t-that I’ve stayed my dorky, embarrassing self after all these years, so it’s natural that I feel a little bit self-conscious around you-”

Will almost wanted to do a face plant on the edge of the sink. He should have just kept his mouth shut.

“Stop beating yourself up like that. You’re not embarrassing, at all. Maybe a little bit dorky, but that’s fine,” Mike said, “It’s pretty cute, actually.”

_Cute? Did he just call me cute?_

Will thought he was going to pass out again, his heartrate rapid. He pressed his lips together, keeping himself from smiling too big.

“Thanks,” Will finally said, a newfound warmth in his chest, “You’re really good at making a guy feel better…is there anything you’re not good at?”

To Will’s surprise, he meant to frame that last sentence as a joke but it came out as a sincere question. As a kid, he did look up to Mike – he was everything he wanted to be.

“I’m far from perfect, Will.”

“Your parents seem to think otherwise,” Will teased, a smirk emerging on his features.

“They’re my parents, of course they’d say all of that,” Mike laughed, referring to their grandiose bragging about their son they were doing during breakfast. He looked at Will who was busy washing the last of the two dishes left in his possession, “I’m honestly ready to finish this year so I can be away from them for a while.”

“I didn’t take your parents to be the smothering type,” Will said, he changed the subject, “I don’t think you’ll have too much to worry about, especially when you meet my friends. They’ll make you feel at home.”

“You’re already doing a great job of that,” Mike replied.

“Aw, stop, Mike…you’re going to inflate my ego,” Will said, his hands suddenly covering his own cheeks.

“I thought I already did that a minute ago,” The other teased, causing Will to scoff.

Will suddenly flicked some of the dishwater from an overlying pot onto Mike’s face. Will nearly doubled over and let out peals of laughter when he saw the surprised Mike, his shirt now drenched.

Before Will could notice, Mike grabbed the sprayer and pressed onto it. The water came out full-blast hitting the shorter boy straight on the face.

“Mike!” Will shrieked, his eyes wide. His entire face and sweater were soaked.

“That’s what you get, Will,” Mike grinned. However, his grin immediately ceased when he saw Will grab onto a large sized pot, filled to the brim with water. The mischievous smile on Will’s face said it all.

“You’re not going to pour that all over me, are you?”

“You underestimate me,” Will said, walking closer to Mike who was slowly backing up away from Will.

“Well, first of all, you’re too short to do that. Second of all, you can barely hold onto that thing without looking like you’re about to fall over– FUCK!”

Will used the remainder of his arm strength to throw the water towards Mike, hitting him head-to-toe with it. Will jumped up, yelling in jubilation as he got a perfect hit on his friend.

“You really want to play this game?” Mike continued, his entire self covered in water. Will was crouched over, his laughter loud and boisterous. The brown-haired boy didn’t realize he was so capable of laughing so hard. Mike bit his lip, trying his hardest not to surrender to Will’s contagious and strangely adorable laughter.

“Nonono, Mike! Please not that one! That one has dirty dish water!” Will yelped, his laughter ceasing. He immediately crouched behind the kitchen table to stay out of Mike’s proximity. 

Before Mike could pick up that pot, a voice interrupted him.

“What are you guys doing?”

The two boys saw Holly emerge from the bathroom, changed into a fresh pair of clothes. She saw the boys drenched forms, the floor of the kitchen partially wet. Will gave her a sheepish smile as Mike looked on in surprise, almost forgetting that his sister didn’t go with the adults.

“Nothing interesting,” Mike lied, his hands still on the handles of the pot.

“You’re such a liar,” She said, “I could hear you guys with the door closed.”

“Mike was being a bad sport after I got him back for spraying me with water,” Will said, earning a roll of the eyes from Mike.

Within an hour, Mike and Will managed to clean the kitchen spotless, Holly brutally teasing them for acting like little boys half their age. Soon enough Karen, Ted, and Joyce came back, two new cars in parked in the front yard.

Soon enough, they all – aside from Will – went outside again. Joyce insisted that Will stay home to continue to rest because of his fainting spell. Will was also made to call his work to ask his manager if he could limit his work hours due to the toll it took on him. Surprisingly his manager was okay with it as Will was a favorite employee of his.

 

\------

 

“Isn’t it your turn to carpool?”

“So you’re not going to ask ‘What happened?’ or ‘What’s going on?’ at least? Jeez, Will, I don’t think we raised you right.”

“…Max.”

After the others left to eat out and then do some last minute preparation for Mike’s and Holly’s school registration, Will was finally alone in the house. By then, Max had rang him up. After bragging about how great Princess Bride was to a much jealous Will, she had a little emergency.

“My dumbass stepbrother decided to take the car for his stupid road trip,” Max continued, on the other line, “So I literally have no way of driving this time. Someone else is going to have to do it.”

“Fine, I’ll drive. You owe me though,” Will replied, then he remembered Mike’s first day of school would be tomorrow, “…There’s going to be someone else coming with us though.”

“Who?”

“We sort of have visitors who came in last night…and one of them…one of them turned out to be a really old friend, my first friend. He moved back here just yesterday and he’s starting school with us tomorrow,” Will could help but to grin; he couldn’t wait to go to school with Mike, he couldn’t wait for him to meet his friends.

“Who is it?” Max repeated, noticing the happier tone in Will’s voice, “What’s his name? Maybe Lucas and Dustin might recognize him since they’ve been here their entire life.”

“He moved years ago, when I finished 3rd grade, so I doubt it,” Will said, his voice went back to being happy, “But his name is Mike…Mike Wheeler.”

Max couldn’t brush off the gleeful sound in Will’s voice. She had to peg him about it.

“One month in and you’re already crushing on someone? I thought you said you weren’t going to bother yourself with that type of drama this year.”

Will’s hairs on the back of his neck rose. He could feel sweat gather on the palms of his hands.

“W-what?? I don’t have a crush on anyone!” He defensively said. He didn’t want to come off as needy or easily infatuated with people.

“I’m not clueless. I recognize that lovestruck voice anywhere.”

“S-So you’re going to make assumptions based on h-how my v-voice sounds over the phone?” Will countered, his nervousness getting the better of him.

“You’re so obvious, Will.”

Will wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t bring himself to anymore. Max had known him for eight years and therefore she was very familiar with Will’s personality patterns which included his propensity to stutter when he was caught in a lie.

“Fine, I do. I didn’t mean for it to happen so suddenly…it just happened, okay?” He admitted.

“Well, of course, you can’t control that,” Max replied, “So how is Mike, exactly? What’s he like?”

Will rolled his eyes, he thought the excitement in her voice was too overbearing. He couldn’t blame her too much though, Will had been pretty much miserable for the past month. It was nice for Max to see her friend giddy and in good spirits. It a matter of seconds, a bout of nervousness came up; Will nervously shifted his foot on the ground as he clutched his phone.

“He’s amazing,” Will managed to say, “…Too amazing. One day in and I already feel comfortable in his presence and it’s usually really difficult for me to open up to people. He’s really easy to talk to, he has a great sense of humor, he’s smart...and he’s really nice-looking. The other day, I actually crashed into him at the store I work at because I wasn’t looking at where I was going…you should have seen me, Max…I was such a mess that day. He probably thought I was about to go into cardiac arrest-”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” The girl interrupted, amusement in her voice, “You really have it hard for him, don’t you? No pun intended, by the way.”

“Ok, I’m hanging up-”

“No wait! I was joking!” Max said, unable to keep her laughter in. She would have laughed harder if she saw how red Will’s face was at the moment. Once she calmed down, she spoke again, “Are you going to act on those feelings?”

Will felt a sudden pang emerge on his chest. 

“No,” Will quickly answered.

“Why not?”

“Cause I’m pretty sure he doesn’t like guys.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about that whole issue,” Max said, “You could always ask him.”

Will paused, the palm of his hand sweaty.

“I’m certain he doesn’t. I’ve known him since I was five,” He countered.

“Dude, you guys finished third grade when he left. Third grade. Plus, you haven’t seen the guy in eight years, there’s a lot you don’t know about him.”

Unfortunately for Will, she made a point. The time they haven’t seen each other was close to a decade. They both went through a myriad of life experiences over that period of time. 

“Either way, I already told you guys I’m not looking for a relationship,” Will said, desperately trying to change the subject. Truthfully, he didn’t want to ever ask Mike that question for numerous reasons. His shoulders stiffened, “…I can just admire him from afar.”

“Yeah, cause that totally works,” The girl scoffed.

Max noticed the sudden lingering silence from the other end of the line; it was clear Will wanted her to talk about something else, anything else.

“So are you sure you’re picking me and Lucas up?” She spoke again.

“Yeah, as long as you guys don’t embarrass me,” Will said, annoyance still in his voice.

“Don’t worry, we won’t.” Max said.

“Good,” Will said, “What about Dustin and El, are they coming with?”

“Nah, just us two. Hopper is dropping off El and Dustin has that campus visit at UIndy he scheduled weeks ago, remember?” She replied, “I’m going to be at Lucas’ house so you can pick us up over there.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh my god it's been ages since I touched this story. I was going through a really long case of writers block and I still kind of am, so that explains the long hiatus on this story among the others I've written. But some comments I've recently gotten got me to finish this chapter that's been sitting in my folder of this story for almost a year.
> 
> ...I hope you guys enjoy this short chap. If I have any motivation, I might improve on some of the early chapters since I didn't really like my writing on parts of this fic.

_**Monday** _

 

Will and his mother woke up rather early to cook up a hefty breakfast. To Joyce’s surprise, Will woke up without any trouble when she reached his room. In fact, he seemed strangely enthusiastic for someone who had to wake up at an early time of 6:30 A.M, especially when he had school right after. She never questioned why her son was in such high spirits, but it was a great change from his sour mood during the past few weeks.

As Will was busy cracking eggs open in a bowl, he reminisced about the long conversation he had with Mike yesterday after their little water fight.

 

\------

_**The day before…** _

 

“You guys are such goof balls,” Holly said. After hearing the commotion from outside of the bathroom, she came out and saw Mike and Will completely drenched, water spilled on the kitchen floor and counters.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Mike retorted, a teasing lilt to his voice. Holly’s normal personality was a far cry from her attempt at an aloof and indifferent air she put on when she hit her teen years.

The blonde girl could only scoff before retreating back into the “guest” room.

Will crouched down before sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the fridge. Mike raised his eyebrows at Will’s sudden action.

“We have all the time to clean this mess,” Will said, his laziness getting the better of him. He patted the empty area next to him, beckoning Mike to sit beside him. Mike didn’t object; he sat next to his friend.

“Is your lightheadedness coming back?” Mike asked. He still remembered Will’s inclination to hide or downplay his condition when he was unwell. That often prompted him to ask and make sure if Will was feeling okay since the other boy would often not tell anybody. It was as if he subconsciously stored his knowledge of that trait of Will’s all this time.

“No,” Will shook his head.

“Are you sure?” The other asked, “I can clean the kitchen if you aren’t feeling well.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just feeling lazy right now,” Will said, “The others won’t be back for a while, so we can clean it later.”

Mike looked ahead of them, eyeing the puddles of water that decorated the floor of the house. The large pot that Will used to throw water at Mike with was overlaid on its side. Mike chuckled to himself, seeing the result of their shenanigans.

“My sister was right. We’re so childish,” He said, his small smile not leaving his features.

Will couldn’t help but to let out a brief giggle. There was comfortable silence between the two before Will spoke up.

“Remember when you taught me how to float in the quarry near your old house?”

Will almost grinned when he saw his friend’s brown eyes light up.

“How old were we? Five?” Mike said, the particular memory not seeming so foggy to him anymore.

The realization suddenly hit Will.

“…That was such a long time ago,” He said, “But yeah, we had a huge water fight and then we both caught really horrible colds. My mom was so worried because I missed so many days of school and I was stuck in bed for a while.”

“Twelve years later and we still haven’t changed a bit,” Mike said.

“Exactly what I thought,” Will laughed, the particular memory almost parallel to just happened today.

The two instantly got carried away, spending the next 40 minutes recollecting many of the memories they shared together. They went all over the place talking about moments ranging from ones spent in primary school to the times they spent in each other’s houses. To Will’s surprise, he was actually the one to be carrying the conversation this time. He didn’t know exactly how it came to be this way but he figured it was something Mike naturally brought out of him.

“...and…and there was this one time in second grade where I helped you escape after school detention. W-we ran so fast when that awful teacher watching caught us climbing out of the window…” Will was doubled over at this point, unable to control his laughter.

“S-She, she f-fell o-o-on her f-face the m-minute she tried r-running a-after u-u-us,” Will continued. His face was red with tears streaming down his eyes. His hand was over his chest and his breathing was labored as it came between his peals of laughter. Mike couldn’t help but to laugh alongside his friend, although in a less hysterical manner, as Will’s laugh was contagious.

“We got into so much trouble though, I was freaking out when they called my parents,” Mike added. His brown eyes widened when he noticed Will’s hard laughter changed into coughing. Mike had realized the other boy had choked on his saliva. He firmly patted Will’s back, trying to ease his coughing, “Take it easy, Will.”

Will cleared his throat as his face was still flushed red, for a different reason this time though. When he calmed down and caught his breath, he leaned back against the fridge again.

“Oh man…I haven’t laughed this hard in forever,” Will said, his hand over his aching chest.

“I thought you were going to die on me for a second,” Mike added. For some reason, Will couldn’t even roll his eyes at the intentionally dramatic tone Mike was using.  

“And risk not having someone as reliable as me to show you the ropes around our school?” Will said, “No way!”

Their conversation steered into less humorous topics, but not completely veering to the point of absolute seriousness between the two. Will briefly discussed bullying he still faced which prompted Mike to go in an all-out defense mode for his friend. The former felt like he could open up in a moment’s notice and talk about anything with Mike because he was so great at making him feel at ease and comfortable. 

Will suddenly pulled his knees to his chest before wrapping his arms around them.

“Mike…” The brown-haired boy said, his voice nervous. He really felt guilty for keeping in what he was about to tell Mike for so long. Truthfully, it hadn’t been on his mind until their conversation delved into a more serious focus. Much to his surprise, he was too excited about Mike’s move back to Hawkins for it to even enter his mind.

His guilt was rapidly eating him up.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, noticing his sudden change in demeanor.

Will looked Mike in the eyes, trying his hardest not to avert his vision.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” The dark-haired boy was completely confused at this point. Will’s heartrate increased, Mike’s concerned expression not making things any better. The shorter boy bit his lip, attempting to find the right words to say.

“For not saying bye.”

Will silently cursed himself for suddenly removing the comfortable air that quickly formed between them.

…

To his chagrin, Mike looked a little troubled. He knew exactly what Will was talking about.

Mike’s expression quickly softened.

“It was eight years ago, Will,” He said, no sign of disappointment in his voice, “You don’t need to apologize.”

“I just feel bad all of a sudden, I guess,” Will shrugged, embarrassment present on his features, “I shouldn’t have done that to you.”

“And I say you don’t have to,” Mike retorted, not wanting his friend to feel such guilt.

Will pursed his lips to the side. Mike did raise a point

“Why do you have to be such a good person?”

“Keep the compliments coming, I could get used to this,” Mike teased.

“Actually, I take that back,” Will said. He leaned to his left, bumping their shoulders together.

 

\------

 

Joyce noticed Will looking ahead and smiling at nothing in particular; he was completely in a daze at this point. Her eyes traveled down to the pan he was cooking the scrambled eggs in. There was smoke arising from the pan, a faint scent of it beginning to spread around the house.

“Will, the eggs! You’re burning them!”

“What-” Will snapped out of it, “Oh!”

He pulled the pan from the stove.

“…Oh, shoot,” Will said, noticing the black edges form around the eggs, the bottom completely burnt, “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“You’re right in front of the stove,” His mother replied, “What kept your mind so occupied?”

“It was nothing important,” Will quickly said.

A big fat lie that was.

 

\-----

 

Will tensed up when he saw Lucas and Max waiting at the front of Lucas’s house. When they saw sight of Will’s car, they hastily walked towards it. Will noticed them speaking to each other as they approached the car, the animated expressions on both their faces indicating they were talking about something exciting. To Will’s dismay, he quickly knew it was about Mike and the crush he had on him.

“The red-head is Max and the guy next to her is Lucas,” Will said, glancing at Mike, “Early warning; if they say or do anything weird, don’t think too much of it.”

“Got it,” Mike said, giving Will a thumbs up. Will couldn’t help but to smile at his action.  _God damn it, Michael Wheeler, why do you have to be so cute?_

The door to the backseats of the vehicle opened, Max getting in first before Lucas.

“Good morning!” Max, being the chatterbox she was, was quickly the first to greet him; she gestured to herself…and then Lucas, “I’m Max, Max Mayfield, and this is my boyfriend, Lucas. We’re both really good friends of Will’s.”

“The three of us go way back,” Lucas added, extending his hand for Mike to shake in which Mike willingly did.

“It’s nice to meet you guys,” Mike replied, “I’m M-”

“Mike Wheeler, right?” Max finished, “Will wouldn’t shut up about you yesterday on the ph-”

Will suddenly slammed his hand on the car horn, causing the other three to jump up from the loud noise.

“Sorry, my hand slipped!” Will said in a fake apologetic voice, he briefly glared at Max. The redhead placed her hands up in fake innocence, a playful grin on her features.

 

\------

 

“Man, that must be really frustrating. If I were him, I’d let you finish your senior year in whichever school you were in back in Cali,” Lucas said.

As Will was driving, the other three were already immersed into a conversation. The brown-haired boy smiled to himself, triumphant that Mike was able to get along so well with his other friends.

“It’s no big deal. We were moving all over the state anyways, so it’s something I’m already used to,” He replied.

“How does it feel to be back in Hawkins?” Max asked, leaning towards the front seats as she placed either of her hands on both seats.

“It’s like having a bunch of old, almost forgotten memories hit you straight in the face,” Mike replied, “I never expected I’d be back here again, so this entire situation is almost bizarre.”

“In a good way, I hope,” Will added, a teasing grin on his face.

“Definitely in a good way,” Mike said, his eyes trailing to Will.  

From the rearview mirror, Will could see Max and Lucas making dramatic kissing motions with their lips. A very mortified Will quickly turned to the back and mouthed ‘STOP’ in which the two immediately did. He resisted the urge to let out an embarrassed groan when he could hear quiet giggles come from the back of the car.

“After this, no more carpooling for a while…we should ride the bus instead,” Will spoke up, briefly keeping his stare on the rearview mirror, making sure Lucas and Max knew that statement, or rather empty threat, was directed towards them.

“What’d we do??” Lucas said, pretending to look oblivious.

“Yeah, I’m sort of confused, Will,” Max added.

“You guys are so funny,” Will said, much sarcasm in his voice as he kept his eyes on the road. He ignored the warm feeling in his cheeks and Mike’s confused and almost clueless expression.

“Anyways, we were going to go hang out at Starcourt Mall after school today, do you guys want to come with?” Max changed the subject.

“Are you able to go, Mike?” Will asked, in case Mr. Wheeler had something in store for his already busy son to do.

“Sure; I have nothing else to do tonight.”

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My longest chapter yet, I hope you all enjoy! I'm currently in the process of editing my older chapters too, so the next one might be posted a bit late.
> 
> Oh, and thank you all sm for the feedback!

**_November 18 th_ **

****

Will absently bounced his leg, his eyes glued onto the clock in front of the classroom. He frowned, watching the minute hand reach the 15 minute mark. Today was Friday and he was in his last class period of the day. He was aching for class to be over and done with so the weekend would start. Afterwards, he would have Monday and Tuesday and then they’d be off for Thanksgiving. His line of sight traveled from the clock face to Lucas and Dustin whispering to each other in the seats across from him as the teacher continued to do his lecture.

The brown haired boy ever-so-slightly leaned towards them, noticing Lucas push what looked like an invitation towards Dustin.

“A party?” Will’s voice was kept to a whisper, matching the other boys’ tones.

The other two immediately faced Will.

“Jennifer Hayes’ 18th,” Lucas said, “We managed to snag a couple of invitations from one of her friends. The party is tomorrow at some place she rented out.”

Lucas handed the invitation to Will. The latter ‘wowed’ when he took notice of the exact place this party was to take place in. Will was easily impressed by such extravagant things; growing up in working class household where he was taught to appreciate the small stuff did that to him. 

“Yup, her parents are loaded,” Dustin said, “She’s turning the big one-eight, why not throw a party at the most expensive venue in Hawkins?”

Will leaned back in his seat.

“Did you get one yet? She’s inviting the whole school,” Dustin continued, his eyes still on the invitation. The excitement in his eyes was quite obvious at this point. Unlike Will, the extroverted Dustin and Lucas were party animals. They gleamed in enthusiasm when word of mouth got around the school that someone was going to throw a party.

“No,” The brown-haired boy shook his head, “I wasn’t going to go anyways.”

The disappointed looks the other two gave Will made the latter almost sink down in his seat.

“Why not?” Dustin asked, “Is Mike not able to go?”

“No,” Will said again. He rolled his eyes, the teasing lilt in Dustin’s last question annoying him, “We’re– Our families are actually going out to eat at some fancy restaurant tomorrow night.”

Will made sure to clarify the entire group going in case Dustin would further tease him.

“Oh come on, I’m pretty sure you guys will be done with your dinner way before this party ends. Mike hasn’t done anything fun at all since he moved here, so why not go with him after you’re finished?” Dustin suggested.

Dustin was right. Since Mike and his family made their move back to their just finished house, he had been much busier than ever. Adding on to that, his father had been on his case tenfold since then, rigorously preparing Mike for his takeover of his business. Just how much preparing did he need to do? Was Ted’s profession such a difficult career path? Because of this, they didn’t hang out nearly as much, much to Will’s chagrin. The longer distance between his home and Mike’s new home didn’t help either; the both of them would have to travel an inconvenient distance to reach each other. It was either phone calls, their time at school, or scarce house visits. It was torture for Will. When he was about to say something, Lucas interjected.

“If he doesn’t want to go, we can’t keep pressuring him,” He said. Lucas was often the mediator between the outgoing Dustin and the more introverted Will. He would be the one to tell everyone else to give up on coaxing Will to force himself into the party scene.

But Will wanted to spend more time with Mike. After their dinner, he would be going back home and that would be it for the weekend before his busy schedule continued. He didn’t want that to be the case, for an immeasurable amount of time.

“Fine, we’ll go,” Will said, surprising himself at his sudden outburst.

“Really?” The two other boys said at the same time.

“Yeah, if we can convince our parents to leave before they do.”

“That’ll be no problem, just leave that to the two of us,” Lucas said.

 

\------

 

“Just a little sip, Mom!” Holly begged.

“Not until you’re eighteen,” Mrs. Wheeler shook her head, dragging a bottle of chardonnay as far away as she could from the thirteen year old.

“You let Mike have some when he was my age!” The girl countered, “Please? I won’t ask you again until then!”

“I said, no, and that’s final,” Mrs. Wheeler said, “Now enjoy your sage gnocchi. It looks good.”

Mike’s lips quirked up into a teasing smile across the table, causing Holly to shoot him a glare.

Seated by Mike, Will was still extremely enthralled by the upscale restaurant Ted decided to bring them all into. Although the Wheelers were the ones who so kindly invited him and his mother, he almost felt bad that Ted was paying for all of them. This was easily one of the most expensive restaurants in Hawkins, if not the most expensive, he’s ever been to. The average main course was a hefty thirty bucks.

“I wish there were a day between Saturday and Sunday,” Mrs. Byers said, shifting the conversation back into the main topic they were discussing, ever since they were seated to their table – work/life balance, “Sunday alone doesn’t give me enough time to mentally prepare myself for the weekday.”

“Yup, a three day weekend would be perfect. Two days just isn’t enough anymore,” Mrs. Wheeler agreed, “At least Thanksgiving is coming up…I’m looking forward to that.”

Will easily drowned out the drab conversation the adults were having and focused his attention back to what Dustin and Lucas said earlier. He hoped the two boys would keep to their word. He loved the restaurant and the food that came with it and he couldn’t wait to try his main course he ordered, but he was itching with anticipation for something more exciting to do, like going to Jennifer Hayes’ party, much to his own surprise. Conversations having to do with work, school, grades…that was something he didn’t want to talk about during the weekend, let alone on a Friday. 

“It’s the first real break Mike will have in a while,” Will snapped his focus out of his thoughts once Mike’s name was at the forefront of the conversation, the topic seemingly diverting onto him.

Mike let out a sheepish laugh.

“He’s been spending all week studying in-depth about budget proposals. He’s going to have cram extra hard on Sunday to make up for the lost time today.”

“…That seems like a lot for someone his age.”

“We’re so proud of him though,” Mrs. Wheeler said.

“…Mom,” Mike said, his cheeks turning red. He desperately wanted them to change the subject.

After their main courses came to the table and they were just about finished with them, they waited for the waiter to come back with their bill. Will’s eyes widened when he saw Dustin and Lucas enter through the front doors of the restaurant. A smile creeped up on his features, glad his friends kept to their word.

Mike glanced at Will, a little confused at his sudden change of expression. Will slyly gestured his finger towards the two boys who just entered.

“Wait, what are Lucas and Dustin doing here?” Mike quietly said, out of earshot of the others.

“We’re going to a birthday party,” Will answered, a peppy smile paired with his words. He made sure to keep his voice low in case the adults would hear.

Mike blinked a couple of times, a conflicted expression on his face. It was well into nighttime so he knew what this type of ‘party’ entailed. 

“Will, I don’t know if I should go.”

“Oh…I thought you wanted something fun to do, kind of like a break from everything that’s been going on.”

“Yeah, but my Dad won’t be happy at all if he finds out–”

Out of sight from the adults, Mike and Will could see Lucas and Dustin waving at them from the entrance of the restaurant, trying to catch the attention of the other two.

“Come on Mike, it’ll be fun,” Will said, slightly nudging him on the arm.

“This is so unlike you Will,” Mike whispered, an amused tone lacing his voice, “You always tell me how much you dislike parties, especially the types that start at this time.”

“I…I don’t know. I was just thinking that maybe I’d have a good time if you joined me,” Will replied, shifting his shoulders up into a shrug. His eyes were lowered and he even looked a little embarrassed for daring to be so bold about this whole thing.

Mike bit his lower lip, briefly turning his gaze from Will to the entrance, then back to him. When Will caught Mike about to say something, Holly’s loud voice interrupted them.

“Why are you two huddled like that?”

Will’s eyebrows rose before he immediately backed up by instinct, her voice startling him. Frankly, the two boys weren’t all that close to each other, they were only turned towards each other in their seats while the others were facing forwards. Holly was just over-dramatizing things as a pestering little sister.

“You guys gossiping about something? Let us in on the details!” Mrs. Wheeler said, not shy about teasing the boys either.

“Um, no, we-we were just…” Will’s face went red, in humiliation. He was so bad at playing things off cool.

“Will and Mike were actually coming to our place for the night to study for a huge math test that’s next Tuesday!”

Will nearly let out a sigh in relief when he saw Dustin and Lucas had finally made their way to their table.

“Will said to for us to meet him and Mike here so we could pick them up, if that’s okay with you guys,” Lucas added, after Dustin’s words.

 

\------

 

“Man, Will, I thought you were going to pass out from the looks of it! Luckily I was there to swoop you guys out before things got awkward.”

“Fine, rub it in my face,” Will rolled his eyes, he looked up at Mike, “I was trying to convince this one to come with us.”

“Hey, I think you should thank Dustin and Lucas, I don’t think I would’ve gone if it weren’t for their persistence,” Mike said, “For a second, I thought my parents were going to trap you guys into an hour-long conversation about school. Luckily you came out unscathed.”

Will let out a slight giggle at Mike’s last sentence. Mike wasn’t exaggerating, his parents were the types who were obsessed with interrogating their children’s friends about their education and aspirations related to that. Mike did come from a well-respected family, it only made sense for them to try to associate themselves with as much people on “equal-footing” as possible.

“I like your parents and all, but sometimes they can be a little…”

“Too much?” Mike said, finishing Dustin’s sentence for him, “I totally understand. They did this to a lot of my friends back in California. They don’t mean any harm, it’s just a longtime habit of theirs. You get used to it once you’re around them long enough.”

Now that Will thought about it, Mike really did put up with his parents smothering mentalities when it came to his academics and career. Will, on the other hand, wouldn’t be so quick to do the same. It would create a huge rift between him and his mother.

 

\-------

 

“It took you guys long enough!” A tipsy Max yelled over the rowdiness of the party-goers, the minute she saw Will, Mike, and Dustin – all following Lucas, come arrive through the front door of the luxurious rented party venue.

The redhead pushed herself through the crowds, trying to get herself closer to her friends. It was two hours into the party, much of the dinner with Mike’s parents overlapping it. The venue was filled to the brim with guests, making it a task to navigate through the congested crowds of people who were either dancing, socializing, or just being plain drunk.

“Will wrote down the address of the restaurant all wrong so we spent extra time looking like idiots while asking people if they knew the correct one!” Lucas said.

“Hey! You never told me that!” Will said.

“Where’s El?” Dustin said, trying to scan the giant hall for the brown-haired girl.

Max pointed towards a stage-like area, causing four pair of eyes to follow. They saw the brunette singing quite loudly at the karaoke bar that was installed there. Groups of watchers were enthusiastically clapping alongside the instrumental music as she sang to the lyrics that popped up on a screen adjacent to her.

“She’s absolutely wasted,” Dustin said.

“Yup, sober El would never do that,” Lucas added.

Dustin and Lucas decided they were going to go accompany El for a round of karaoke, leaving the other three alone.

“Guys, there’s this really cool beverage fountain at the refreshment table!” Max said, her blue eyes lighting up. Mike’s eyes scanned towards the table she was talking about; there was a slew of drinks, the fountain set in the middle.

“Is there anything non-alcoholic?” Mike said.

“Oh come on, Mike!” Max said.

“Ease off on the peer pressure!” Will teased, to which Max waved him off.

 “Sorry, Max. I have a shitload to do this week, I can’t afford to spend tomorrow completely hungover,” Mike said. His face softened once he saw Max purse her lips, “Fine, I’ll have a cup.”

“There, that’s the spirit. You have to loosen up a bit sometimes!” She said, before leading the boys to the drinks station.

Once they grabbed some of the cocktail-like beverage from the gaudy drink fountain, they watched El drag Dustin up on stage, encouraging the curly haired boy sing along with her. Will could only laugh in embarrassment when he heard Dustin’s off-key wails clash with El’s smoother voice. A much enthusiastic Lucas was cheering them on.

“Guys, I’m going to go help El out!” Max said, referring to the karaoke stage, “Cause Dustin sure isn’t doing her any favors!”

“Wait, you can sing?!” Will said, sarcasm dripping his voice.

“You can join us if you want!” Her voice as equally mocking.

Will’s face paled. He knew Max was just making fun of him, but he couldn’t imagine himself singing quite badly in front of so many people.

“He’s fine, we’ll just be spectators!” Mike said, noticing Will’s uneasiness, he slung an arm around his friend’s shoulders.

“Y-Yeah!” Will added, his heartbeat racing.

“Okay, you lovebirds. Have fun!” She said, a cheeky grin forming on her face. Before Will could yell at her, she squeezed her way through more ambling crowds to get closer to the stage area.

As soon as it happened, Mike removed his arm from Will’s shoulders. There they stood across from each other, like they were the only ones in the room. Much to Will’s annoyance, it was stuffy and cramped due to the large volume of guests. Heck, he hadn’t even seen the birthday girl herself. Just how many people were at this party?

Will bit his lip awkwardly his sight traveling to the light fixture above them. He had no idea what to say. His mind was blank for words, at the worst of times too. That was when he brought his solo cup to his lips, taking a small sip of the mysterious cocktail of alcohol drinks Max so kindly introduced them to.

“Oh jeez, it’s really strong,” Will said, scrunching his face, “What did they put inside this?”

“Lots and lots of vodka,” Mike replied, setting it down on the table beside him. He noticed Will’s forlorn expression, his eyebrows were dipped low and his lips were slightly downturned. He could easily catch it in a heartbeat, “Is this party not as enjoyable as you thought it would be?”

“Are you a mind reader or something?” Will chuckled.

“Your frown kind of gives it away,” Mike replied.

“Well…I’m always kind of dragged into these things and I go because I like spending time with my friends. I really can’t get into this scene though,” Will said, gesturing towards the surrounding crowds that eventually forced the two boys to keep their proximities closer to each other, “I figured we could have a good time since you’ve been so busy lately and I haven’t seen you outside school much–”

Will’s voice came to a complete halt when he was knocked forwards, causing himself to crash into Mike. His grip loosened onto his drink, sending the contents flying onto Mike’s shirt. Will instantly backed up, his eyes widened when he saw the large spot of alcohol on his friend’s sweater.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry–”

Will’s worried expression changed into a puzzled one when he saw Mike break into a fit of chuckles.

“This is the third time,” Mike said, unable to settle his grin.

“I–” Will briefly looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up as realized what Mike was trying to get at.

“Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault,” Mike said. Will frowned, unable to hear Mike, as he heard a chorus of cheers come from the karaoke station.

“What? I didn’t hear you!” The brown-haired boy absently leaned in closer.

“I said, don’t apologize, It’s not your fault,” Mike said, inattentively leaning in closer as well. Will could feel the hairs of his back rise up when he could have sworn Mike’s lips were barely an inch from his ear. But that speculation didn’t last too long when Mike quickly pulled himself back. Will almost felt disappointed when that sudden warmth went away.

When the noise died down, Will spoke up.

“What are we going to do about that stain?”

“You worry too much,” Mike said, “I take it home and I wash it. I’ll survive the rest of this party with…this on my shirt.”

“I really don’t know how you put up with my clumsiness,” Will replied, “Oh man…one time I was studying with Lucas and El at El’s house and we were all seated in these really uncomfortable chairs. Me being an idiot sat up on mines and I somehow tripped back into it and got stuck…I got stuck inside a chair.”

“Jesus, Will…” Mike said, unable to control his laughter.

“Oh come on Mike, it’s not that funny,” Will whined, his long-lasting embarrassment from that shooting up.

Will glanced once again at the stage area, seeing the other four dance their hearts out on the stage, Lucas finally joining Max up on stage. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, regardless of Dustin’s bad singing, the curly-headed boy finally taking center mic. The spectators around them clapped in tune to the song as Lucas twirled Max around in dance. El danced with some others who were as equally drunk as she was.

“El is enjoying herself,” Mike spoke up.

“Yeah, they all seem to be. They managed to turn super-introverted El into a party animal,” Will replied, a half-smile on his face, “They must think I’m so boring cause I’m too shy to join them. I don’t know why they still get me to go to parties when I just suck all the fun out.”

Will was envious of his friends. They could easily propagate a fun environment on a moment’s notice. Sometimes, Will thought it was extremely difficult for him to do that. He even went as far as to think they’d only invite him to these types of functions out of pity.

“You know they don’t think that,” Mike said broke him out of his self-loathing thoughts.

“I-I know, I trust them not to be shallow like that. I just–,” Will said, quickly retracting his statement, “I’ve been told that before, several times. So it’s kind of hard to let go of those thoughts.”

“Those people simply aren’t worth listening to cause that’s the only identity they have – partying until they get shitfaced to no return,” Mike replied, “None of this starts to matter anymore once you get out of high school and college.”

“…Thank god,” Will laughed, slightly lowering his head.

“I’ve had friends say similar to me cause I’m always studying. I always thought they were right for the longest time, but I told myself none of this matters, like creating a false image of yourself so people find you interesting.”

Will couldn’t disagree at all.

“When you got sick for a whole week last month, Max kept bothering me about when you were coming back to class. She said she really missed your company cause you’d always strike up interesting conversations with her,” Mike continued, he quickly darted his vision towards the stage where Max was busy dancing her heart out with Lucas before looking back a with, “…Don’t tell her I said that.”

“…She said that about me?” Will said, surprised that someone like Max would ever say that, let alone about him. He briefly looked around him, his eyes glazing over the energetic party-goers surrounding them, “Who knew we’d have a conversation like this here…of all places.”

“Sensitive topics during birthday parties aren’t your thing?”

“Not usually,” Will said, his grin matching Mike’s.

 

\------

 

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Will thoroughly washed his hands before drying them. He blankly stared at his reflection as he heard the muffled music play in the background. The conversation he had smackdab in the middle of the party hall brought his spirits back up, but he knew this would probably be one of his last parties in a while. When he was about to head out of the bathroom entrance, he came to a sudden halt.

It was as if all time stopped.

“Will?”

In front of him was a taller male his senior. He had short brown hair, a casual outfit of an athletic jacket with jeans.

He was none other than Will’s ex-boyfriend, Matt, the one that so kindly cheated on him all those years ago.

Matt’s surprised expression suddenly changed into a wide grin. Will’s breath hitched when he brought Will into a tight hug. The shorter boy could only keep his eyes wide agape in absolute surprise. When he finally let go, Will looked on in silence, baffled at his warm greeting.

“It’s been ages since I last saw you,” He said.

The shorter boy could only look on in shock. _Why was he acting friendly? Did he completely forget the very sour note we left off on?_ Will remembered it clearly. There was a shouting match and then post-breakup, a lot of tears involved.

“Uh…um…y-yeah, it has,” Will could only say those words, the barrage of questions not wanting to exit his mind. He was totally clamming up.

“Why are you here of all places?” He asked, “Aren’t these parties usually too intimidating for you?”

Under his cheery demeanor, Will could have sworn there was a patronizing lilt to his voice.

“My friends asked me to come,” Will said with an upward movement of his shoulders, “It’s not so bad; I’m actually enjoying myself.”

Will had to stop lying about the dumbest things.

Matt laughed a bit, causing the other to momentarily frown. There it was, the all too familiar condescending tone of his that Will would pick up on his not-so-good days.

“Well, that’s good. I thought you were going to keep being that debbie-downer type of person. Glad you changed for the better,” Matt said, giving Will a few firm pats on the shoulder.

It had to take everything for Will not to brush his hand off, especially after that comment.

“My friends are waiting for me so I’ll see you around?” He continued.

“Yeah, see you around…” Will uttered out, his eye lids downturned.

With that, he went inside one of the stalls, leaving Will out in the open.

All of a sudden, the unpleasant and daunting memories came back. The manipulation, the insecurity Matt made him feel on nearly a daily basis, and the distrust that led to the moment he found out. However, what upset Will the most was the fact he was unable to get any words out, let alone tell him to screw off.

Will’s eyes became watery.

 

\------

 

“What’s wrong, Will?”

He could hear Mike’s concerned voice the minute the latter saw his vacant expression and sad eyes.  Will immediately wiped his eyes in case Mike saw their wateriness and corrected his expression before speaking up.

“Nothing, just a little tired,” He lied, trying his hardest not to let the tears out, “The dinner and then this party; it’s a lot in one day.”

Before Mike could say anything, Will’s eyes perked up.

“Hey, I’m going…to go get something to drink,” He said, “I’ll be right back.”

As Will was leaving, there was much concern in his eyes. He didn’t buy what Will said, at all. Will’s swift change in mood and sudden inclination to grab a drink only added to that.

Will shuffled his way through the crowds, hoping to god he wouldn’t see Matt again. He especially hoped none of his friends would bump into him. That would end up in disaster, Max throwing all sorts of profanities towards him, Dustin and Lucas occasionally joining. That would for sure bring much unwanted attention. Plus, the thought of seeing Matt’s smarmy face made him nauseous.

As the hours progressed, Will would take frequent trips to the drink table and grab whatever. Soon enough him and Mike joined the others. He danced with his friends, losing his sobriety as he lost count of how much he drank. Since the alcohol removed any sort of inhibition he had left, he managed to do a round of karaoke. He didn’t know what came over him, but seeing his ex-brought this unfamiliar impulsiveness out. Maybe he wanted to prove something to him…that he wasn’t the same “boring-old” Will that he messed with all those years ago, however stupid that was.

 

\-------

**_1:22 A.M_ **

 

Mike was thankful he didn’t drink much at all. He looked beside him, that thankful feeling of his compounded. Will leant against the window of the car seat next to him, his arms awkwardly dangling beside his body. His eyes were half closed and he didn’t look too well, in fact, he looked dreadful. His cheeks were unusually red, his entire body temperature was warm, and his hair was completely disheveled on all sides. He must have drank his body weight because he was completely out of it.

Mike insisted to Max he would bring Will home to his house after things started spiraling out of control. It was a closer distance and his parents were staying over at the Byers’ house for the night. There was no way Joyce could see Will’s current condition.

The car stopped, signifying their arrival.

“Hey, Will…” The low voice behind him said, a worried cadence to it.

The brunette felt someone nudge him on the shoulder. He slowly turned his head, blinking his eyes several times to ease his blurred vision. The first thing he saw was Mike’s concerned expression.

“We’re here,” He said.

“Where’s here?” Will asked.

“My house,” Mike said. He quickly glanced at the driver who clearly looked impatient before looking back at his friend, “C’mon Will. Let’s go.”

Will groaned, shifting his body before tilting to Mike’s side. He fell down on the cushions of the seat, his entire upper body lying on them. Mike breathed out through his nose, a bout of annoyance emerging within him.

“Oh, I’ve been there before…like once, twice, maybe three times…it’s a very nice house,” Will quietly mumbled. He placed his arm in front of his closed eyes, unmoving and continuing to lie on his side. Mike never saw himself being impatient with Will, but he was on the verge of losing it.

“I’m sorry,” Mike apologized to the taxi driver.

“Yeah, yeah, just hurry it up. I have places to be,” He said.

Mike opened the passenger door and got out of his side of the car. He was going to take another approach to this. Will shivered, feeling a blast of cold air hit him.

“…So are we leaving now? I don’t want to leave, it’s so cold…” Will cried, his forehead crinkled as he tilted his head back to keep his eyes on Mike.

“Yes,” Mike said, ignoring Will’s complaints. He motioned Will to come out through the open door.

Will slowly stood up and stepped out of the vehicle. He nearly fell forwards after taking his first step on the ground; Mike instead caught him. The taxi erratically drove off the minute both boys were out of the car. He kept his hold on Will, his arm around his shoulders. The brunette was completely slumped, unable to take a further step.

“Can you walk?” The taller boy asked.

“I don’t think so,” Will mumbled, “My arms feel like noodles and my legs feel like noodles. It’s all droopy when I try to move. You ever have that feeling down there? Cause that’s what I’m feeling right now and it’s quite awful.”

“No,” Mike bit his lip, trying to keep himself from quirking a smile at Will’s unusual rambling and his unintentional innuendo, “Here, I’ll carry you.”

Mike repositioned himself until Will was behind him. He crouched down before placing his arms around Will’s legs and hoisting him up. Will quickly put his arms around Mike, making sure not to fall off from the piggyback he was currently in.

They emerged inside the house, Mike turned on the lights and carefully placed Will on the couch. Will sat up when he saw Mike come back into the living room, a glass of ice cold water in hand. He sat there his arms limp by his sides as Mike awkwardly held the glass towards him, waiting for the other to take it.

“You’re so cute, Mike,” Will drawled, the alcohol heating up his body.

The lasting effects of the alcohol weren’t going away anytime soon. Will’s characteristic timidness was nowhere to be found at this point. Mike awkwardly shifted his position, a little flustered at his friend’s words.

“Drink up, you’re probably dehydrated right now,” Mike said, after clearing his throat.  

“Okay, Mom.”

Drunk Will was…something else.

Will took the glass and drank it all in just a few successive gulps. The water felt refreshing against the dryness in his mouth. He wiped his mouth before placing the glass on the floor in front of him.

“I didn’t take you to be the drinking type,” Mike was still surprised at the copious amounts of drinks he took down during the party.

“I…literally just drank water,” Will muttered, blinking his eyes rapidly. He leaned his entire body against the side of the couch.

“I meant alcohol,” Mike clarified, almost laughing at Will’s mishap.

“I thought I could enjoy the party with a little…but I got carried away, I guess. I’m so disappointed in myself…” Will said, trying to blur out the horrid encounter he had with ex-boyfriend. He shot up, his face suddenly slack jawed and hands on either side of his bright red cheeks, “…Shit, my mom’s going to kill me if she finds out…fuck…she’s gonna kill me!”

“You’re at my house, remember?” Mike said, “She won’t find out about anything unless she suddenly comes knocking on the door. And we both know that’s not going to happen.”

“What happens if she calls?”

“Then I’ll answer the phone and tell her that you’re fine,” Mike continued. He saw Will lean back on the chair. When the boy stretched his arms, he unintentionally knocked over the glass cup he had set on the counter top beside him. The earth-shattering noise of broken glass followed.

“Will!” Mike exclaimed. He looked on ahead, the shards of glass on the floor.

“Oh shit, Mike. I’m so sorry,” The other said, realizing what he had just done.

Because his drunkenness prevented him from utilizing any sort of rational judgement, Will reached over to pick the glass up with his bare hands. A rather frazzled Mike immediately crouched over and stopped him.

“I’m really sorry-”

He looked up at Will. The guilt on his face spoke a thousand words.

“It’s okay.”

“You sure?” Will asked.

“Yes. For some reason, I can’t get mad at you,” Mike replied.

“…This is why I love you, Mike.”

Will grinned, placing his chin above his forearm. Mike honestly didn’t know what to say at this point.

“This is why all my friends love you…you know that, right? You’re loved, Mike.”

“Glad to hear that,” The other said.

“Your voice sounds sarcastic,” Will sighed, noticing his terse reply, “…Fuck, is it cause I’m drunk? I’m annoying you…heck, I sound annoying.”

“You sound drunk,” Mike corrected, “Was that your first time?”

Will’s already red cheeks from the alcohol became even redder, if that was possible. He looked offended by the last question Mike asked.

“I’m a virgin!”

Mike bit his bottom lip before bursting into peals of laughter at Will’s mishap, even more-so at the way he accidently phrased that question.

“…What’s so funny? Is there something on my face?” Will asked, unable to think clearly.

“Nothing,” Mike nonchalantly waved his hand, unable to keep his amused laughter at bay, “Just go to sleep, Will. You won’t feel as bad in the morning.”

“You’re still laughing though…” Will muttered, he positioned himself into a much relaxed position, “Can I just sleep here?”

“Yeah, of course,” Mike replied, “Just try not to knock the lamp down.”

“Shut up, Mike.”

 

\------

 

Will didn’t think too much of it when he felt himself semi-pressed against someone else’s body. There was warmth encasing him throughout, a contrast to the bitter November air. That warmth, the sense of comfort he felt was enough to keep him from opening his eyes. He didn’t want to move from the current position he was in and face the realities that this new day had to offer. The warm reddish-hue he saw through his closed eyelids indicated that. He absently snuggled closer to his source of warmth, shutting his eyes further.

But once Will had some form of consciousness, he couldn’t fall back asleep.

Will’s eyelids fluttered before he fully opened them. His body was half situated over Mike’s, his head on his chest and arm loosely around his waist. They both fell asleep on the couch last night. Will felt the corners of his lips tug into a smile when he saw Mike’s sleeping form, his tall stature uncomfortably going past the edge of the couch. His face was a completely different story though; he looked to be at complete peace. His long eyelashes brushed across his prominent cheekbones as his eyes remained closed, his lips weren’t tight into a straight line, Will could have sworn he was almost…smiling in his sleep. Will could feel his chest go up and down beneath him, it was therapeutic…the absolute silence, Mike’s rhythmic breathing, and the warmth between them.

Will’s eyes trailed from the many freckles across Mike’s face to his disheveled hair that was splayed over the end of the couch. The brown-haired boy absently picked off a fleck of lint that laid on his cheek.

The loud, jarring sound of the phone ringing interrupted Will.

Will immediately jerked his arm backwards when Mike snapped his eyes open. The two froze for a moment, noting the positions they were in. It was too late for Will to stealthily get off of Mike…whose cheeks were a very slight rosy red if he looked hard enough.

“Uhh…good morning?” Will said, trying to break the awkwardness between them.

“Good morning, Will,” Mike said, a slight chuckle escaping his lips. There was still a bout of nervousness in his voice, but he was trying to brush this off as something completely circumstantial.

The shorter boy quickly got off of Mike before the phone rang again. Mike sighed, frustrated that someone would call them so early. He got up from the couch and strode towards the phone. Will could feel a headache emerging – his first hangover.

What happened during the party was mostly a blur to him – minus the…encounter he had with Matt. The boy sunk in his seat, a wave of mortification hitting him. Will would beat himself up if he accidently let that slip during a drunken tirade.

_Why did let himself go that far? Why didn’t he let Mike or anyone else stop him?_

The brown-haired boy rubbed his eyes, letting out a stifled groan.

“Hello?” Mike said after picking up.

Will frowned, suddenly becoming interested at who was on the other line of the phone and why they would be calling them at…9:08 in the morning. Was it either one of his parents forgetting that they were “sleeping over at Dustin’s house” and checking up on him? Nancy to tell him that she was visiting for Thanksgiving break?

Was it his own mom?

He saw Mike’s annoyed scowl quickly soften to a rather surprised expression.

“…That’s really last minute though. Are you sure you can make it here by then?”

Will tried his hardest to hear the voice from the other end, but it was no use. It just came off as garbled noise since he was so far away from the phone. _Who was it?_

“Of course I do, Victoria,” Mike continued.

Will pressed his brows together.

_Victoria? Who’s Victoria?_

“Yeah, I haven’t seen you in a while and my parents really love having you around,” Mike said. The other voice supposedly belonging to ‘Victoria’ spoke from the other end. Mike let out a few ‘hums’ in agreement before his last words, “I’ll see you there then. 10:00 on the dot.”

After ‘Victoria’s’ last words, Mike hung up, a smile emerging on his face. Will sat up on the couch, confusion marking his expression. What was with his sudden, burning curiosity?  

“Who was that?” Will asked.

“My girlfriend.”

Will felt a sudden, sinking feeling in his stomach. For a moment he thought his hangover prevented him from hearing his friend clearly, but that wasn’t true. He heard Mike loud and clear. _His girlfriend._ He had a girlfriend. Will’s lips were parted, unable to say a single word at the moment.

“O-oh,” Will managed to utter out, his heartbeat rapid, “…I didn’t know you had one.”

Of course he didn’t. Mike never told any of them. But that wasn’t a problem, was it? Mike wasn’t out of obligation to tell him.

“That’s cause I never told you guys,” He said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are gonna get reaaaal interesting next chapter ill tell ya that...


End file.
